Page 7

CHAPTER 7

N oah made himself a cup of instant coffee while he waited for his toast to pop. He didn’t mind tea, but in the morning, he preferred a coffee.

David glanced up from his phone. “I have to go to the school today to see how it survived and help prepare the hall to be used as emergency accommodation.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Many homes were damaged and don’t have power or water.” He stood. “Meredith got back a few hours ago, and she’ll be heading out again this afternoon. Can you please keep an eye on Linda?”

Noah opened his mouth. His toast popped and Linda walked into the kitchen dressed in jeans, a shirt, and her favorite pink runners, as if she’d be working at the pub after being forced to take yesterday off.

“I don’t need to be supervised, David,” she said.

“It’s dangerous out there.” David put his cup in the dishwasher. “And you’re supposed to stay home unless your business is essential.”

“I’m seventy-two. Everything is dangerous. I might fart and throw my back out.”

Noah smothered a laugh and busied himself buttering his toast.

“Linda…” David sighed and sounded as though he was aware he’d already lost the argument.

“David. There are dragons, and I want to bloody see them. Besides, the pub is a community hub, and I need to report the damage to the city. Someone will want to check out the fairy castle.”

David groaned. “Please. There are monsters and?—”

“Exactly! Besides. Noah and I need to collect the car and bring it home.”

The toast in Noah’s mouth turned to glue. Why was he being roped into this adventure? He didn’t want to see dragons. They’d probably eat him while Nan made friends with them.

“There’s a fairy castle attached to it,” David said, as though that were a reason to stay home. “Leave it to the authorities.”

Linda grinned. “It’s my pub. There’s a lot of food in the fridges that will go off if left. I can donate it.”

She seemed far more enthusiastic about this collapse than Noah or David.

David pressed his lips together and shook his head. “This is…unprecedented.”

“I watch the news, David. There are riots and fighting and fires and looting…it has brought out the worst of humanity. Why should I fear mythological beings? Because they have claws?”

“Because we don’t know anything about them.” David exhaled. “Just don’t do anything risky…riskier. Don’t get Noah killed.”

“I won’t. I’d never hear the end of it…how is your mother, Noah?”

David and Linda looked at him. He took a sip of coffee. “The pool didn’t make it.” That was his mother’s biggest concern, apparently. “And she’d like me to come home.”

“I think you’re stuck here for a bit, son.” David gave him a sad smile. “All flights are grounded.”

Noah hid his grin behind the cup. He didn’t want to act too happy about being stuck.

Linda pulled out a cup. “There’s been several incidents at sea. Talk of mermaids. No one is going anywhere…including the mythologicals. That’s what they are calling them.”

Noah nodded. “That’s nicer than monsters.”

“More correct, too,” Linda said.

David glanced at his watch. “I need to go…please be careful. Cracks are still widening and closing, and buildings are unstable. It may not be safe to go into the pub.” David gave Noah a pointed look as if he had the power to stop Nan from doing anything. “Call me if you have any problems. And if you can’t bring the car back?—”

“We’ll be fine, David.” Linda waved him away.

The front door closed, and Linda turned to him. “He worries too much.”

David had a point; it was dangerous out there. They had no idea who was in the castle or if they’d be eaten on the way to the pub. This was less of an adventure and more like the start of a B-grade movie where he’d be telling the unlucky hero not to go as it was going to end badly. But if he refused, Nan would go without him and that would be worse, as she’d be on her own and David and Meredith would worry about her.

“I also need to check on some of my friends. How are yours? Do they have water?”

“I don’t know.” He hadn’t asked, and they hadn’t said. They’d been too busy talking about the mythological sightings and discussing what they knew about those creatures. Which was not a lot.

“Well, you should find out.” Linda made herself a cup of tea.

“If they don’t, what am I going to do?” He was one person. The government would help them and sort out those kinds of issues.

Nan gave him a look that he’d learned meant he needed to do better. “When the world is falling apart, you check in. Maybe their road is so buckled they can’t drive to the shops, or they’re hurt but not bad enough to go to the hospital. We are lucky.”

And going out wouldn’t tempt their luck?

“I’ll text my friends.”

“You do that. We’ll go the pub, and I’ll pack some food up for Maeve—she can’t leave her street, and they have no power.”

No doubt they’d also be taking Maeve a bottle of something. He’d seen her drink when she and Nan got together to play bridge—she also had some stories to tell from her younger years that made her youth sound wild.

He texted his friends, asking what state their street was in and to let them know he was venturing out to check on the pub.

Liam

No power, but we have water. Tell me what you see!

W eb

All good. Make an offering. There’s magic in the air.

Noah wasn’t sure it was magic. More like fear from both humans and mythological beings.

Web

We need to do something special on the full moon.

N oah rolled his eyes. Of course Web wanted to do something.

And which god is in charge of global disasters?

L iam

Which god is in charge of the mythological beings?

Noah frowned.

“Problem?” Nan asked.

He glanced up. “No. But if mythological beings are here. Creatures we thought only existed in stories…what about the old gods? Like Zeus and such. They are considered myth now, but what if they are real and are here?”

Nan considered him for a couple of seconds. “If they are real, they can help fix the damage. I’m sure there’s plenty of people offering prayers in church.”

“So you don’t think they are real?”

“If given a choice between the old gods and the fae, I’ll take the latter. Your friends need to be careful, messing with magic they don’t understand or respect.”

Noah bit his lip, knowing the warning was for him, too. He didn’t believe in magic, but he’d always liked the idea of there being more out there…turned out there was more. A whole other world.

“It’s not like that, Nan. We just get together and have a drink.”

She lifted her eyebrows in a way that reminded him of his mother. “I’m not sure if that’s worse or better.”

Noah shrugged.

“If you don’t believe, why the altar in your room?”

“It’s not an altar. It’s a collection of things that I found and that I think are cool.” Were they magical? He doubted it. He had a bit of amber, an Aussie coin from the year he was born, a love letter and a pressed flower that had been tucked inside a vintage book of poetry that he’d ordered online, and a liquor bottle in a funky shape that he’d been using as a candle holder and was now coated in myriad colors of wax and a much smaller Victorian medicine bottle that now held an incense stick. There were a few pieces that he’d bought at auctions—nothing expensive, but things he’d wanted because he liked the vibe. He had a planchette that had once been used in seances, a funeral pocket watch that didn’t work, but he liked the black enamel and engraving on the case and the hidden lover’s eye painting on the inside, and a silver necklace that he wore all the time. There’d been other things that he’d seen and wanted but couldn’t afford.

His mother had called his collections magpie behavior and regularly threw them out when he was growing up. Until he’d learned to hide them in a shoe box under his bed. Living with his aunt was the first time he’d felt safe enough to leave them out, and he loved being able to see the things when he walked into his room.

Nan smiled. “They have meaning for you, and that’s the only magic that matters. Now put your walking shoes on and bring that big backpack of yours.”

“Why? Are we going hiking?”

“If there’s no power at the pub, there’s food we need to bring home.” She opened the freezer door. “I’ll bring the ice packs in case there’s anything to save.”

There was no point in arguing with her, and if there was no power, they couldn’t open. Assuming anyone wanted to drink at a bar right next door to a fairy castle.