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Noah doubted Maeve was dealing drugs harder than dope but the way things were going, why not. Sure. Not that he’d ever heard of euphoria.

“Silas will not like it if I bite him,” Feryn said.

It took several seconds for Noah’s brain to process the words. Who cared what Pan wanted? “Iwill not like it if you bite me.”

Maeve laughed. “Ooh, you will. It takes away all your worries and pain for a bit. My dicky leg has never been better.”

It wasn’t Maeve dealing drugs, it was the vampires. Strangely, that made more sense.

“Have a seat. I made stew with the leftover food. Would you like some?” Nan asked.

Noah sat on the nearest stool, which also happened to be the furthest from the vampires. “I stink of dragon, sorry. If I’d known we had company…” It wasn’t like he could’ve gone anywhere for a shower or a change of clothes.

Nan placed a glass of whiskey and ice in front of him. “I’ll be right back with the stew.”

Noah took a sip and then a gulp. The burn of the liquor as it raced down his throat and hit his stomach. It was grounding, and it was familiar. And with his eyes closed, he could pretend that everything was normal. Except for the smell. He exhaled and opened his eyes.

Hating the way he wished Pan was there. But everything was easier because Pan knew all about the mythological beings, and no doubt felt the same way about him because he understood this world.

“It is a hard season,” Feryn said. “For everyone. Too much death and ruin.” He lifted his glass as if inviting Noah to join in the grim toast.

He did, raising his glass and taking another drink. “The female dragon may never fly. And the farmer is delivering ten dead cows tomorrow. Do you know anyone who needs ten dead cows? I was warned they’re not fit for human consumption because they weren’t killed in accordance with food safety or because they’ve been sitting out too long…fuck. I don’t know. How many cows does a dragon eat?”

How many words did Feryn understand?

Noah drained his glass and set it on the bar.

“One each, every five days or so. The werewolves may appreciate the meat.”

Noah nodded. Yeah, of course, werewolves, why didn’t he think of that?

Because werewolves being real was not at the top of his mind. His brain wanted to explode from trying to process this new reality. It hadn’t been a week since the collapse.

In that time, he’d gone from shock and numbness to a need to do something, anything to help, and to have a distraction. Now the reality was soaking in. He was marinating in the truth, and dragon stink. This wasn’t a game or a horror movie, and going off to save a dragon wasn’t a fun jaunt one did to play at being helpful. It was dangerous.

Nan placed a bowl of stew in front of him. “I think we’ve all had enough of sad stories for a bit. Since the dragon survived, why don’t you give us a tale with a happy ending?”

The vampires thumped their fists on the bar as if agreeing.

As Noah started talking, he realized this wouldn’t be the last time he told this story. It was only the first.

CHAPTER32

He was never going to get the stink of dragon and centaur out of his skin. By the time he and the vet hiked out of the centaurs’ camp, Pan was exhausted. The only reason he hadn’t accepted the offer to spend the night in the camp was because he didn’t want to risk never being allowed to leave.

The idea that anyone thought it was acceptable to imprison a god was unheard of, but then, if he had magic, no one would’ve been able to imprison him, anyway. Despite not having magic, he had tried to magically transport himself to the car, because walking back to where they had left the car, what felt like forever ago—and he was a good judge of forever—was the last thing he wanted to do, or second last.

The last thing was spending more time with centaurs.

The vet, who he’d gotten to know quite well, was called Elise. While she’d tried to hide her awe at dealing with dragons and centaurs, he hadn’t translated everything she said because the centaurs would not have been thrilled by a running comparison of their differences and similarities to horses.

Elise had told the centaurs she’d be back in a week to check up on them. And Pan had clarified that a week was seven days. Which meant he needed to return in a week to translate unless he could find someone else to do the job.

She hadn’t asked many questions about him, which was a good thing, because he didn’t want to lie to her. Nor did he want to tell the truth. It was almost a relief when the rockfall came into view.

Elise stopped and put her hands on her hips, staring up at the rocks blocking the road. “I’m guessing we have to climb over.”

“Correct.” He didn’t remember the pile of rocks being quite that high. Maybe it was the starlight and shadows that made them look bigger.