The air rushed out of my lungs in a shaky exhale. “What are you exactly?”
His brows rose, and he flicked his finger at Godric and Finn. “Don’t you mean, what are we?”
My jaw went slack in fear, and my voice was shrill. “All three of you turn into a fox?”
“No.” Cassander smirked. “I’m the only fox in this room.”
My brows furrowed as my gaze flicked back and forth between Finn and Godric. “What do you two turn into?”
Finn’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “I’m a white tiger.”
I pushed myself back against my seat.
“Lion,” Godric murmured absently.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and a horrible shiver plagued my frame. My teeth started chattering. When Godric had finally decided to speak, he destroyed my sanity.
I shook my fist at him. “I’m living in a different reality right now, and you are being an asshole. I need some goddamn comfort. It’s not everyday nightmares become real, and humans become animals.”
Godric sat back in his chair and turned his attention to me. His golden eyes pinned my shaking form in place. “We aren’t human, Poppy.”
I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders and eyed him even more warily. “Are you an alien?”
“No, we’re called shifters. We don’t just turn into an animal. The animal is part of who we are, so we’re able to shift at will.”
I hissed, “I fucked a lion?”
His eyes narrowed. “You fucked me.”
“You just said the animal is part of who you are.”
“I meant, in this form, we have certain traits that our animal counterpart has. Most shifters hear better than you can imagine. We can see better than any human in the dark. Our sense of smell is off the charts. And our personalities tend to shadow how our animal would act in the wild—but that’s not always the case.”
“You said ‘most’ shifters.” I eyed him hard. “How many shifters are there?”
“A lot.”
“How much is a lot?”
“Roughly thirty percent of the world’s male population.”
I could only stare.
He snorted, peering down his nose. “You humans killed each other off. That wasn’t our doing. It’s the shifters now who are trying to keep your race from complete annihilation.”
I nibbled on my bottom lip.
Something was off there.
“Why would shifters care if humans exist? Wouldn’t it be easier if we didn’t?”
His jaw clenched. He peered back out the window.
Finn’s lips curved. “You’re very intelligent, Poppy.”
Godric grunted, his eyes staying on the scenery.
Cassander sat forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “We need humans because shifters are all males. Our mates are human.”
“Mates?” My brows creased.
“A mate is chosen by magic. A perfect counterpart to their shifter male. But the shifter doesn’t know who the person is until after they have sex and a test is done.”
“So shifters are magic?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of test does a shifter perform on an unsuspecting human after sex? You would want to know, so I imagine you do it every time, right?”
“We do. And it’s very simple.”
“What?”
“Another shifter pricks their hand. If it heals instantly, then they are an actual mate to whoever they slept with.”
“Magic makes it heal?” I was catching on.
“Yes. Shifters and mates are immortal.”
I sucked in a lungful of oxygen. “You can’t die?”
Cassander peered down at his hands and picked at his leather pants. “There are two ways a shifter can die. One is their mate kills them. The other is the seer kills them.”
“What’s a seer?”
He cleared his throat. “There’s only one seer alive at one time. The seer has special abilities. But the seer’s primary job is for killing. If there’s a shifter who goes insane over time, the seer takes him out. Or if a mate or shifter want their existence gone—forever is a long time to live—then the seer performs an investigation to see if it is for the best and handles it accordingly.”
Godric growled deep in his throat.
I glanced at him but quickly peered back to the man giving me all the answers. “Does a shifter actually need a ‘mate’?”
Cassander was right.
Forever was a long time to be with someone.
“Yes. They are the only people we can breed with.”
I blinked, finally getting there. “That’s why the shifters are really helping to save the human race. It saves them from extinction.”
Finn smirked. “Bingo.”
My eyes slowly squinted in distrust. “Wait. You said you’re immortal. If you’re immortal, then you heal fast, right?”
Cassander nodded, still picking at his pants. “We do. Heads grow back. Hearts grow back. Even if we’re burned down to ash, we form again.”
I snorted. “Then why didn’t Godric’s finger heal?”
The train went completely silent.
“So you’re lying to me,” I accused.
“We’ve told you the truth. You just haven’t put it all together yet.” Godric turned his stunning eyes on me, his gaze unwavering now. “The reason why a different shifter has to perform the test on the human is that a mate’s shifter or a shifter’s mate can physically hurt each other. The test would read that the human wasn’t a mate if her sex partner did it since a mate’s shifter can hurt them. They wouldn’t heal.”
I blinked.
Stared. Trembled.
Almost hyperventilated.
I choked, “What are you saying?”
Godric’s golden eyes didn’t falter. “You’re my mate.”
My hand shot out in front of Cassander. “Cut my finger.”
Godric hissed through his clenched teeth.
Cassander closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.
Finn pulled out his knife with a long sigh. “Give me your hand.”
“Why not him? He’s obviously a shifter.” I glared, my body trembling in shock at Godric’s declaration. “I’ve seen him shift, not you.”