She tightened her embrace and felt his lips against her hair. It was the most reassuring kiss she’d ever had.
“It was a long time ago.” Martin ran his hand down her back. “Long enough ago now that it’s hard to say if it’s even true. But no, there aren’t many of us. It’s been a long time since there were. It means we feel more kinship to other shifters than we might otherwise, because if we don’t, we’re too spread out from our own to have any community. And I’m glad of that, at least.”
That was something. “So you know other shifters?”
“So do you.” Martin grinned at her. She was glad to see him smile again after the darkness of his story. “There’s your almost son-in-law, for one.”
“Theo?”
“Scout’s honor.”
He actually did hold up three fingers in the Boy Scout salute, which was, even in the midst of her surprise, the cutest thing Tiffani had ever seen.
She couldn’t picture anyone less animal-like than Theo. “What does he turn into?”
“A dragon.”
“A dragon! Does Jillian know?”
She recalibrated. Of course Jillian knew. Theo couldn’t have brought himself to lie about whether or not he’d taken the last pudding cup out of the fridge.
“What about Gretchen and Colby? Wait—Theo arrested Gordon, you brought back Gordon. Was Gordon a shifter?”
“No,” Martin said firmly. “Gordon was all human.”
“Gordon was all rat.”
“That too. Gretchen is human, but she’s from a family of lynx shifters. She’s their odd girl out. Colby is a werewolf.”
She felt surprisingly comfortable with that last part. Okay, werewolves, sure. She knew werewolves.
Martin’s mind was clearly on a different track, though. He wasn’t going to move on from here to explain silver bullets to her.
“Tiffani, all this... you have to know why I’m telling you.”
But she didn’t.
Yes, you do, a little part of her whispered. You know you do. He told you.
They recognize the person who’s always going to be perfect for them, Martin had said. Quick as a snap of your fingers.
But that couldn’t have anything to do with the two of them. No way.
“We’re compatible, aren’t we?” Martin said.
There was something so sincere in his eyes. It made her need to be sincere in return, even if it meant exposing herself, looking and feeling stupid. Vulnerable.
“Yes,” she said simply. “Very.”
It was like light poured in around him when he smiled. It made her feel like her life had been a dark and dusty room until he’d come along to pull back the curtains and show her what all she’d been missing.
“My perfect match, the one I would recognize as soon as I saw her... it’s you, Tiffani.”
Tiffani felt her breath catch in her chest. “It’s me?”
“It’s you.”
And she suddenly deflated.