“Excuse me,” a huge muscled man interrupted.
The man rocked back and forth on his feet, clearly uncomfortable. He was a Shifter, but I’d never seen him before.
“Howdy Jimbo,” Hank said evenly as he sat up straighter and put on his game face. “What can we do for you?”
“You’re sittin’ with Dragons,” he stated the obvious as his eyes squinted at Daniel and me.
“Yes. And?” Essie replied with a dangerous edge to her voice.
“We don’t want no Dragons ̓round here,” he shot back and crossed his arms over his massive chest.
My inner Dragon wanted to fry him like all the food offered in the diner, but I refrained and pulled Daniel closer. However, one false move on his part and he was dead. I could take him out in a heartbeat, but I’d only be proving why he didn’t want me here in the first place.
“She has every right to be here,” Dwayne said in a voice that made the hair on my neck stand up.
Either Dwayne’s tone didn’t faze Jimbo or he was stupid enough to tangle with a Vampyre that could blow people up. With a name like Jimbo I didn’t know why I expected brilliance.
“We don’t like Vampyres much either,” Jimbo informed the table bluntly. “Didn’t have no problems like this till recently. We ain’t gonna stand for it much longer.”
“How bout this?” Hank offered as he leaned back and got comfortable. “You can move your prejudiced ass right on out of Hung. The Sheriff and the Pack are fine with this. These particular Dragons pose us no threat and are under our protection. And the Vampyre saved the town’s ass if I’m remembering correctly.”
“You are,” Dwayne added as he too sat back.
Relaxed Shifters and Vampyres were not a good thing in my vast experience.
“Or we can go out back and I can kick your ass to hell,” Essie offered with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Awwww, come on Essie, I wanna have a go at Jimbo. He’s always kinda bugged me,” Granny complained and cracked all her knuckles, readying herself for a fight.
Jimbo blanched and backed away.
“We just don’t want no trouble here,” he said stiffly. “Dragons ain’t nothin’ but trash.”
“You know, Jimbo,” Hank said as he picked at Daniel’s fries and popped one into his mouth. He chewed slowly and stared hard at the now very uncomfortable Jimbo before he spoke again. “Never really liked you much and your intimidation tactics don’t work on me. In fact, they make me want to run you and your hate mongering family out of town, but I’ll just leave that to Junior since he’s the Alpha. He has a craw up his ass for species intolerance and he’s been itching for a fight for a while now.”
“Since he’s giving up being a manwhore, he has a hell of a lot of unused aggression,” Essie added with a shrug. “Pretty sure he killed the last guy who pissed him off.”
“Nah,” Hank corrected her. “He just permanently maimed him. Never gonna walk again. And if I’m recalling correctly, the guy’s a soprano now.”
Jimbo continued to back up.
“This ain’t the end of this,” he hissed as he turned and practically ran from the diner.
I knew it wasn’t. Dragons were not welcome in civilized places. I needed to leave this town sooner rather than later. I would not be the reason for discourse or death in Hung, Georgia. I let my head fall for a brief second and wondered if I’d ever find a safe place for Daniel. Even if my father was eliminated, our welcome wasn’t guaranteed anywhere in this world.
“Dat’s a bad man,” Daniel said quietly as he patted my face with his chubby ketchup covered hands. “Me will take care of you, Mommy.”
My heart grew bigger as I stared at my beautiful child. He was everything that was good and I was hell bent on making sure he grew up safely.
“No, my precious man, Mommy will take care of you,” I promised. “You get to be a little boy for a few more years.”
“And Dwayne will kill the shit out of anything that wants to harm you,” Dwayne promised as he leaned over and gently kissed Daniel’s forehead.
I didn’t give Dwayne any crap about cursing in front of my son. Daniel would hear much worse in his life and at least this swearing was meant with love. Furthermore, if Dwayne was going to raise Daniel, I was certain the salty language would come with it.
Daniel raised his arms to the Vampyre and cuddled up in his lap as Granny absently played with his curls. These people meant too much to me to put them in harm’s way. I’d wait for Seth and then find another place to hide while I planned my father’s demise.
“He’s just the tip of the iceberg,” I said wearily. “We won’t stay much longer. It’s not safe for you or for us. I can defend myself, but Daniel is just a child.”
“We’re going back to the Sheriff’s office,” Hank said as he stood and tossed some money on the table.
“Why?” Essie asked as she too stood and then reached for Daniel.
“Dima and Daniel need to be chipped,” he said.
“Perfect,” Dwayne said as he took Granny’s hand in his and put his other on my back. “I’ll feel much better if we can always find them.”
I wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about, but I was willing to do almost anything to keep Daniel alive.
I had to trust someone and these people were it.