She shoved that thought aside. There was something more important happening. “So if it’s not teleporting, what is it?”
He took a deep breath, then stood up from his chair. “It’s easier if I just show you. No, you can stay sitting down, I just need some space.”
Space for what?
But Leah didn’t want to waste any more time with questions, she just wanted to see whatever it was he thought he could do. Levitate objects? Throw fireballs?
Jeff took up an empty spot a few feet in front of her, and gave her a smile. “Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Well, now Leah was a little worried.
As she watched, he started to...shimmer. No, not just shimmer, to blur. It was like his whole shape was melting away, shifting...
Into an animal.
Leah shot up out of the chair, pointing at the white-and-gray leopard standing in front of her on the floor. Emily squawked and dropped her apple slice.
“You!” Leah stared at the leopard. “I saw you! I saw you in the snow!”
She wasn’t being very coherent, she realized distantly, but she was too overwhelmed to care. She’d thought was a dream, or a hallucination...a white cat in the snow, warm breath on her cheek, soft fur under her hands...and then blackness.
“You found me when you were like this.” She stared.
The leopard started to shimmer, and blur...and then Jeff was standing there again. “Yes, I did,” he said. “I was out in the snow searching, because I knew there was something wrong. I didn’t know what it was, but my leopard wouldn’t let me stay inside, I had to go out. And when I found you, I didn’t even think to shift back to human. I just had to come to you, see you for myself.”
That all sounded...Leah didn’t know. Like Jeff had some kind of psychic abilities, as well as being able to turn into a freaking leopard. “How long have you been like this? How did you get like this?”
“All my life. I was born this way. It runs in my family—my mother is a shifter, too.”
A family secret, he’d said.
“I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Leah said, still staring at him. Human, blond hair, gray eyes, incredibly good-looking...but a second ago, he’d been that leopard. “Are you and your family the only ones?”
He shook his head. “No, there are shifters all over the globe. But they’re pretty rare, and they tend to congregate in their own communities. And everyone keeps it secret, for obvious reasons.”
Leah nodded. She could only imagine what the government, or some unscrupulous company, might do if they got hold of someone who could do this.
“But how...” Leah shook her head. “I don’t know what I want to ask. How does it work, or what’s it like, but I can’t imagine those are easy questions to answer.”
“No, they aren’t.” Jeff’s voice was serious. “I don’t think anyone really understands how it works, scientifically. And as for what it’s like...” he shrugged, with a rueful smile. “I don’t know what it’s like not to be like this. Being a leopard is like...like being me. That’s the truest thing I can say about it. Like just another side of myself.”
Leah looked down at Emily. She was staring at Jeff, eyes wide. “You’re learning something new about the world today, sweetheart,” she said in a low voice. “And Mommy’s learning the same thing.”
“I know it’s strange.” Jeff came over to her, looking down at Emily with her. “It’s probably hard to accept. But I hope you’re not scared or put off.”
Leah looked up at him. “No,” she said, slowly. “No, I’m not scared. I’m not put off. I think it’s...wonderful.”
As she said it, she realized it was true. A sense of wonderment was spreading through her, making her fingers tingle and her heart ache. A snow leopard. Jeff was a snow leopard.
A smile grew on Jeff’s face. He leaned down and kissed her softly, and then, when he pulled back, bent down again to press a kiss to the top of Emily’s head.
“Thank you for telling me,” Leah said. “This can’t be an easy secret to share.”
“It’s easy to share with you,” Jeff murmured against Emily’s hair. He stood up. “Both of you,” he said, smiling at Leah.
“Will you...” Leah hesitated. “Will you shift again? I’d like to see you again.”
“Of course.” Jeff stepped back, and then glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “This might be more fun outside.”