Page 76 of Misfit Monsters
Did he think of some other implications? He doesn’t say anything.
We return to the van to find Raze prowling around it and Mirage perched on the roof. The fox shifter leaps down with a flare of at least two tails and an illusionary cheer.
“What did the intrepid explorers discover?” he asks.
Jonah opens the driver’s door. “Shadowkind creatures might have been clashing with animals in and around town, but we still don’t know where they’re coming from. We’d better head to the next town and see if we can find out more.”
By the timewe reach our second destination, the sun is starting to set.
This settlement looks even smaller than the last one, just a spiral of scattered buildings surrounded by uneven hills with scruffy trees. But a building at the edge of the town has a big parking lot packed with at least twenty cars. Artificial light beams through the hazy windows, and a mix of laughter and music spills out when a new arrival steps inside. The sign says it’s the Blueberry Sunshine Restaurant and Bar.
Blueberries and sunshine are both delicious. Seems like a good omen.
Jonah pulls the van into the parking lot. “This looks like the best place to chat up the locals.”
He pauses and looks at the rest of us on the benches. Even Mirage has drooped after the long day of travel.
Jonah offers a faint smile. “Do you think you can all behave yourselves long enough to grab dinner and make a little conversation?”
The fox shifter springs up and gives our team leader a jaunty salute. “Eager and ready to follow orders! I’ll fox out all their secrets.” He manages to grin without revealing the points of his fangs.
Raze’s thumb strokes over my wrist, and he pulls his massive form straighter. “I’d like to help.”
Hail casts a skeptical glance toward the basilisk shifter. “And to keep an eye on the cream puff.”
I feel Raze start to bristle next to me—but he wills down his temper with a huff of an exhalation. “Yes, that too. Ifyoucan’t rile me up, I think I’m safe for now.”
The corner of Jonah’s mouth kicks higher, but somehow his smile looks more strained. “It’s settled. Let’s go in.”
We tramp into a restaurant big enough to hold everyone from this town twice over—but maybe people come from farms and other places nearby. At least two thirds of the tables are taken, and several figures sit along the varnished wooden bar counter.
The locals must immediately clock us as newcomers. Several heads turn and watch with open curiosity as the hostess seats us.
Jonah purposefully steps around Mirage to take the chair farthest from mine. Does he not want me sitting close?
Our waitress glides over a moment later, as sunshine-y as the restaurant name. “Glad you could make it! Let me go over the specials…”
By the time I’ve ordered myself a burger and fries, Hail has turned on the charm. Maybe he feels he needs to prove himself after Jonah and I dug up all the info in the last town.
“I hear it can be pretty dangerous living out in the wilds,” he drawls, cocking his head. “You must be very brave.”
Something about his smooth tone niggles at me, I think because I know he’s faking it. But when he aims his cool smile at the waitress, she giggles.
She shakes her head as she jots down Mirage’s order of nachos. “Oh, not much happens around here. I like how peaceful it is. Hanging out at the Blueberry Sunshine is usually the most excitement of my week.”
Hail slides his graceful fingers over his napkin in a way that’s weirdly provocative. “We were hearing about pets going missing and wild bunnies hunted down. I guess the predators know to leave humans alone.”
The way he says human has a slightly terse cadence to it, but the waitress doesn’t seem to notice. “If people are careful enough, even the animals should be fine. You have to know how to live in harmony with the elements.”
Jonah eases into the conversation. “You must hear a lot of stories, working in here—about all sorts of things. We’re actually collecting local legends. Ghosts, bigfoot, all that kind of thing. Does Pilverton have any fables like that?”
The waitress taps her pen against her lips. “Hmm. I’ll have to think on that. Let me get your order in, and maybe I’ll have something for you when I come back with the food.”
She walks away emitting nothing but subtle satisfaction, but a smack of avid interest hits me from a different direction, as crisp as the french fries I can’t wait to devour.
A middle-aged man is sitting at a table behind us with a couple of other humans around the same age. He’s watching us while the other two laugh over some joke.
I aim a bright smile his way. “You look like you might have a story. If you do, we’d love to hear it.”
