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"They’ve knohat you were from the very moment your mother conceived you You’re a be-tas-tni"

"A what?" I asked

"Be-tas-tni A mirror It means you can mirror any animal you see, with a few limitations It also h his hair

"What? It also means what?" I asked, nervous

"You’re a mix All mirrors are a sort of really rare hybrid" He cleared his throat and I stared at hi behind his words "Your mother was a shifter--she had to be But your father? The only way to make a mirror is to have a Shifter for a mother and a Skinwalker for a father"

My entire body see,s "What are you saying? That I’ of one And the offspring of a Shifter Soainst all odds, you’ve evaded the Walkers Possibly, due to all the foster ho around so much"

"But if they wanted ht--then why didn’t they shoot me as soon as they found me? Like when I walked home from the bus? Why didn’t they kidnap and kill me, and leave my body on some deserted dirt road? I mean, they killed all of my family Why not me?"

"I never said they wanted you dead You’re be-tas-tni I highly doubt their intent was to kill you Most likely they wanted to capture you--to own you"

"Own me? Why?" I asked, unsure if I wanted to hear the answer

"Since you have the gifts of both a Walker and a Shifter, you are more powerful than either You heal instantly and don’t need a skin to shift, like me But, like the Walkers, you can turn into any aniht you and made you believe you were one of theainst the Shifters iinable And think of ould happen if you fell in love with one of the would be like"

My skin started crawling at the thought of having babies with a Skinwalker

"And if you didn’t side with theer cleared his throat and shook his head the tiniest bit

"What? They would what?" I deainst mine "Trust o insane wondering"

He took a deep breath and his eyebrows pulled together in a deep frown "They could use your skin"

My head started to spin and e before a panic attack set in "So," I said, voice treer nodded "Yep Only one If Shifters even attempt to force themselves into a different shape than they’re born to, they die Except you Exactly what else can you turn into?"

I know he asked simply to takewith fur Except really ss I tried to turn into a horse and got stuck with hooves for the night" A sh my worry "And once, I tried to turn into a snake It al at me with a look of such terrified shock that I wondered if ere about to be attacked

"A cold-blooded creature?" he whispered "And you didn’t die?"

"I was covered eird, scaly dust for a day That’s all"

His hands tightened on the small of my back "I remelowing"

"Why do we shift at all?" I asked--the question that had plagued ed

"The universe ood and evil, life and death, joy and sorrow Thousands of years ago a man sold his soul to the devil and became the first Skinwalker To keep the universe in perfect balance, someone had to offset him--be his opposite--so the first Shifter was born Otherwise there would be an iiven the opportunity to conquer good Since then, lots of s and traded their souls to the devil in exchange for supernatural powers--one of the the power to wear an animal skin and shift--Skinwalkers So Shifters have had the need to multiply Does that answer your question?"

I nodded, but I could hardly believe it It sounded so … fantastical

"Skinwalkers aren’t Navajo, are they?"

"Evil doesn’t choose a race or nation Anyone can follow the witch way and becoer explained "In this part of the world, the burden to battle the Walkers has fallen to the Dineh--the Navajo But in other parts of the world, other races are Shifters Myof England His people were the first Shifters in Britain"