Her words broke at the end, and she had to swallow a few times before she could speak again. “No lie, I thought you were dead. I figured that was the only event that would set off your beast-man, and it’s not cool that I had to think that, Mera.”

She wasn’t exactly mad at me, but I could tell that more than once, she’d cursed my name. “Lucien didn’t know anything?” He hadn’t been in the realm with Dannie, but even Gaster had heard rumors.

She sniffed. “That bastard tells me what I need to know. Not what I want to know. All he said was to have some faith, and you’re stronger than I think and would not have fallen so easily.”

“This is going to be a long conversation,” I told her. “We best find a seat.”

I dragged her back to the beanbag chairs, pulling her down beside me. “Can we order food from here?” I asked Shadow. “Because I really need some food.”

He nodded. “I will feed you,” he said, “just relax and let me take care of it all.”

I blinked at him, and fuck, if I wasn’t feeling some kind of thing about being taken care of. I mean, it wasn’t like I was ready to hand in my independent woman card, but having him fetch me food was almost a complete role reversal, and I was into it.

“Mera,” Simone snapped, “I’m going to need you to start talking.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, “hold on to your hair. I’ll tell you everything, but first…” I waved Sam closer. “I want you to meet the shifter who helped me get back here and ultimately restore my memories so I could bring Shadow back from the brink of Egyptian godhood. Samantha Rowland. Sam.”

Simone grinned as she reached out a hand to Sam. “It’s so nice to meet you. And holy hell, you are super gorgeous.”

Sam’s lips curved into a genuine smile. “Thank you, that’s quite the compliment from someone as beautiful as you.” When they were finished shaking hands, Sam pulled a cushion closer so we could all chat. “And it’s really great to have another somewhat familiar face here.”

“It’s like we’re bringing a little of Earth into this fantasy world,” Simone said, looking pleased with herself as she leaned back and laced her fingers across her flat stomach. She was dressed in the sort of outfit I’d never seen her wear before: blue flared harem pants, a white top with similarly flared sleeves, her long hair drawn back in a tight bun. Sam hadn’t just been blowing smoke up her ass to return the compliment; Simone was looking beyond gorgeous after her time in Valdor.