“Shadow Beast,” she snarled, marching forward. “How dare you enter my domain without my permission? How did you even get around the securities? I didn’t feel you until you were almost upon me.”

Instead of attacking first, she was smart enough to ferret out the breach in her security so she could ensure it never happened again. Meanwhile, I was fighting the urge to run forward and wrap my arms around her. I’d missed her so much, and even as I pressed a hand to my chest, I couldn’t stop the huge swell of power beating at me like a drum, right in the spot she’d first touched me to bond us.

Her gaze jerked to mine, boring into me as she too pressed a hand to her chest. We examined each other, and while it was clear she had no memory of me, she felt the connection.

“What is happening?” she snapped, stepping closer. The curved blades appeared in her hands, making it clear that she was more than a little threatened by our presence. We’d invaded her tranquility. Her peace. We’d stepped foot where I would hazard a guess no other had since her family died.

And while she might have learned to trust Shadow during her time bonded to me, that time was no longer in her memory. “Can you break through Dannie’s spell on her?” I whispered to Shadow.

He shook his head. “Not from this distance. She’s too powerful here in her dominion.”

“Speak up!” she commanded, the air crashing around us in tune to her voice. “Or I will attack, and even the Shadow Beast cannot stand against me here, surrounded by the power of my family.”

His eyes met mine. “It would be close,” he admitted reluctantly. Which in and of itself told me everything. My girl was a total badass.

I stepped forward to draw her attention while remaining near Shadow because there was no way he’d let me out of his protective circle. “You don’t remember me,” I said, projecting my voice, “because our memories were manipulated by a powerful goddess, but I’m Mera Callahan. I’m a wolf shifter slash goddess of the Nexus. And you and I are bonded because we’re family. Treasora.”

She paled, her hands trembling until her blades visibly shook. “You lie.”

I smiled sadly, hating this distance between us. “You feel our bond. It has been calling to me for weeks. Even when I’d forgotten everything about you and this world, the flutters in my chest never stopped.”

Her head jerked as she shook it, like she was trying to clear her thoughts. “I’m too powerful for any to touch my mind. I protect that above all else. And I would never have bonded to one not from my world. We are warne—”