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“And then we hope Liam and Web didn’t steal my car and that it’s waiting for us.”

If they had stolen her car, he was going to spend the rest of his life making sure they suffered. He would personally gather the spiders to put in their boots, stick thorns in their clothes and piss in their beer. He’d put pins in their pillows and fleas in their blankets.

Pan never usually put in much effort with punishments, trusting his magic to do the work, but he was feeling vengeful. He forced the breath out between his teeth, so he didn’t make those promises out loud, just in case magic chose that moment to return.

“Drink?” Elise handed him the water bottle. There was only a mouthful left.

“Thank you.” It was tepid, like tea left sitting for too long but without any flavor.

“This whole time you’ve talked about dragons and centaurs and your world. But not about yourself.” Elise took her gaze off the rocks and glanced at him.

“Because I’m not injured and there’s not much to tell.”

“I don’t believe that. For a start, you speak English. You’re acting like a lord and the centaurs don’t like you.”

“We have a history.”

“Please, you don’t look much older than twenty-five. How do you have history?”

Pan laughed. “I’m not twenty-five.”

“I figured. You were too calm and too composed…and too knowledgeable.”

He pressed his lips together and gave a single nod. “Would it have been better for you if I had panicked that the dragon might lash out and kill us? Or if I had lost my temper with the centaurs.” He had been close to both of those options at various points.

“No. I was politely asking about you. What you are.”

“And I was politely ignoring your unspoken request.” He let an edge form in his voice.

“Hmm. I hoped that since we spent the day together, you’d trusted me.”

“I don’t trust many.” He handed the empty water bottle to her.

“You trust Noah with the dragon.”

Noah knew the truth and had negotiated a deal. A mortal witch, who didn’t even understand his own power, had made a deal with a god. On Tariko Pan would’ve laughed at the request and turned him into a spoon until he learned some manners.

Now the idea of keeping the deal held an appeal.

While he wasn’t an incubus who needed to feed on sexual energy, he craved magic. Which was worse. He needed Noah, far more than Noah needed him.

“Good point. He doesn’t speak Dragon, so I should check on them.” Pan started climbing over the pile of rocks.

If no car waited on the other side, he was going to scream and curse the old ones, regardless of the possible consequences.

“Nice deflection,” Elise said as she climbed after him.

“I’ve had a lot of practice.”

“So, are you closer to two hundred years old?”

Pan pulled himself up and peered over the top of the pile. Waiting on the other side was the vet’s white car. “Thank magic, Liam and Web did not fail us.”

“Great, I didn’t fancy our odds of calling a taxi this late.” She joined him at the top as though they were pausing to appreciate the clarity of the stars. “You’re really not going to tell me?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Are you something that human mythology doesn’t like?”