Chapter 14
Noah waited for Web and Liam outside the front of the pub.
The vet had already come and collected Pan, so they could check on how the centaurs were getting on.
Pan had grumbled about the possibility of being taken prisoner again, while at the same time wanting to keep his word.
Noah had tried to reassure him that that wouldn’t happen, but he hadn’t been entirely successful, even though Noah had offered a prayer for his safe return.
He didn’t want his friends going inside the pub because the beer, bingo, and blood—the banter part had been swapped for blood—group was already getting set up for today’s games and gossip.
One of them had whipped out a sewing machine and made a bunch of badges for them to sew on their T-shirts, like turning up to teach mythological beings English and giving blood to the vampires was something to be proud of.
It was the euphoria following a bite that they really liked, as they claimed it took away all their aches and pains.
Noah wasn’t game enough to try it, even though Pan said he should, as the vampires would be able to taste the magic in his blood to determine if, in fact, he was fully selkie or a human who could use the fur coat.
They had not convinced the dragons to move either.
However, the dragons had been walking up the street to do their business, though that was not a long-term solution because the pile of crap that came out of a dragon was substantially more than he had imagined.
It was certainly not the kind of thing the council provided poop bags for.
The ogre, Lanna, had stopped by yesterday to ask if she could take some of the dragon poo to fertilize her newly planted garden, to which Nan had readily agreed and refused to accept payment.
Some of the old guys had heard about the way mythological beings were rebuilding their houses and had decided they would like to help…
and teach English, of course. It helped that one of them was a retired bricklayer and another had once worked for the council in building approvals so they knew a few things and a few people.
The humans in charge thought them too old to be useful, so they intended on putting their skills to use elsewhere and have some fun while doing it.
And no one was telling them to stop talking or complaining that they’d already heard that story.
Noah hoped they weren’t forced to tear the houses down, but he didn’t think the council was going to be in a rush to inspect the mythological houses when there were so many human houses needing to be inspected and repaired.
Today was the first day he’d be working with the werewolves on his own. Most of them had a basic understanding of English after several days of checking the houses for survivors and food, enough to get by anyway.
Liam pulled his car up to the curb and got out. “So what’s the plan?”
Noah pulled out the map and explained the area they were targeting, and that the werewolves would meet them there.
Meredith had told him last night that what he was doing was very kind, but it had been over a week, and the odds of finding any more survivors were low.
He hadn’t told her they were going to check the streets near the sinkhole.
There were plenty of missing humans, and Pan had suggested that, much like the Tarikians, they must have vanished in the impact. Had they exploded or imploded or just been ripped apart until they were nothing more than atoms?
No one had any answers, not even the scientists who’d done the math and figured out that the Earth was no bigger or heavier, which meant that while two worlds had collided, something else had happened because matter couldn’t be destroyed.
David had tried to talk physics, and Pan had argued magic.
Nan had found it fascinating, while Noah and Meredith had turned to more practical issues.
So far, no one had mentioned the coat again after he’d explained it was a magical object and a gift without mentioning what it did.
He’d expected Nan to spill the truth, but she’d kept it to herself.
He’d put the coat on a couple of times now and was now quite comfortable with taking it off.
And while Meredith wasn’t sure about Pan, and him being a god, she did appreciate the way he was trying to help.
Even if he was only helping because he wanted people to worship him.
Though so far, nothing had happened. The only way Pan could touch magic was through him and only during sex, which probably made him the sex demon.
Sex selkie?
No wonder Pan liked selkies so much. There was something about changing forms and returning to human that was quite…he didn’t want to call it erotic because that sounded weird, but there was definitely a rush of something. Perhaps relief at being successfully human again.
“And where is your incubus?” Web asked, leaning against the car.
“Helping the vet with the centaurs.” Noah had put that in the text message when asking Web and Liam if they wanted to spend the day with him and the werewolves. “Would you rather be there?”
“No.” Web crossed his arms. “I just don’t understand how this will work.”
“We’re working with the werewolves to locate bodies.
” And every time they found one, he had to call it through.
It had been two days since they found anyone alive.
“We’re also collecting any usable food, so the werewolves can take it back to the rec center.
” They didn’t need to gather any more blankets, and mythologicals were starting to assess their own homes.
Like the human authorities, Noah was noting down the areas that were least and worst hit so they had something to work with when it came to repairs.
They had no drak today as two had gone with Pan, as if they were his personal protection detail, and three always stayed at the pub.
One of the women had started making them special outfits.
It was fucking weird, and Noah wondered what would happen when the novelty of all things mythological wore off.
It was easy to say that these people had been unaffected and thought it was all fun, but that wasn’t the truth.
Maeve was staying with her daughter in town because it was too hard to reach her place.
But it also meant she’d been able to give her house temporarily to some people who didn’t have one because theirs had been destroyed.
A lot of the older people who had lived alone had made the decision to either move in with family or with each other to offer up houses. It wasn’t enough, though.
“So now you’re friends with vampires, werewolves, and an incubus?” Web arched one eyebrow.
Noah shrugged. “They’re people, and they need help.” The humans had enough volunteers, and they couldn’t coordinate anymore.
“It’s okay, we get it. Mum had me helping her make meals for all the people being housed at the school. I have never cooked so much pasta in my entire life.” Liam pulled a face.
But he knew how to cook and was pretty good at it.
“Okay, do you want to drive as far as you can, or do you want to leave the car here?” Noah slung his backpack over his shoulder.
“Might as well leave it, a few hundred meters won’t make much of a difference.”
Noah laughed. “Tell me that at the end of the day.”
He checked his phone, though the crack through the screen was making it a little harder to use. David had found his old phone and got it working for Pan. Pan had not progressed beyond giving verbal instructions because he couldn’t read English.
Although he now knew the letters of the alphabet, thanks to David sitting down with him each evening.
The first night had ended with Pan storming out of the house and cursing in several different languages.
He had sat outside in the garden for about half an hour before returning and apologizing for the outburst, while at the same time managing to insult being human and learning like a human.
He really had a skill for giving insults in a way that at first didn’t seem all that insulting. Tonight, they’d decided to stay in the palace, mostly because Pan needed to check in with Feryn, and he couldn’t act as though he had abandoned the vampires.
“Did you get hold of your friend who does the mobile repair?” Noah asked Web.
“Yeah, he’s working out of his house at the moment. Said a new screen protector will cost fifty.”
“Fifty pounds? For a screen protector?”
Web shrugged. “He said getting supplies is hard, but you’re welcome to try and order online. You might get it by Christmas.”
Noah bit back a curse. He was tempted to rip the damaged screen protector off. However, even though it was damaged it had saved his phone screen three days ago when it had fallen out of his pocket while crawling through the remains of a house.
They reached the street and saw the werewolves waiting for them. Noah waved. “The big one is Jarot—he’s in charge of them. They’ve all lost someone, so this can be a bit raw.”
“And we haven’t lost anyone?” Web snarled.
Noah hadn’t. Both of his cousins in London were safe.
Rhett was in the military, taking care of logistics and preventing looting and stuff.
Isla was a doctor at a big hospital. Now she knew how fast mythologicals could learn English, she was spreading the word and had asked for volunteers to sit and talk.
She also made sure the TVs were on a channel with either sitcoms or movies.
London sounded as though it was having quite a few issues. He was glad he was in a small town, and that everyone seemed to be working together, even if people grumbled about the presence of mythological beings.
Isla was calling them mythos. She said ‘mythological being’ took too long in an emergency, and Noah had to agree mytho was quicker. Pan insisted on saying Tarikian. And he was technically right, but Noah couldn’t see that being used by humans.