Page 17

Of the fact that they more or less sprung out of the ground. Or the skies or the seas. Whatever place their power fueled. The first Athena appeared as a young girl, walking out of an ancient library.

It was odd for Lukas to be in his beast form, let alone so close to the palace. He normally went deep into the sea to blow off steam when he needed to.

And to do it now…he was furious. With me, in all likelihood.

June ruffled, recognizing a predator in her midst but I calmed her with a hand down her back. Lukas’s large, piercing blue eyes lit in the distance, zeroing in on me. Whipping around, he swam toward me and the stables, crossing the distance unnaturally fast.

When any other sane person would walk away, I started toward him.

June followed, only after she sent a flash ofhell noat me unless I gave her two more fish. When we got close to the stalls, I let her go. I sent her an image of August along with the feeling that she’d get to see him if she went inside the stables and stayed there.

Lukas was almost at us. Close enough that I could see the individual blues and greens of his scales, the creamy blue of the ones on his underbelly.

It seemed like he was going to crash into the stalls but at the last second, he turned his head downward, curling into a ball and emerging on the ground as a man.

A very naked man. Lukas. A naked Lukas.

I took a shocked breath in, drawing in water instead of air. I sputtered a little, forcing the water out and air in and checking that my power was back to normal. That had never happened, but it seemed the shock of seeing Lukas like that was enough to rip away ingrained skills.

I slammed my mouth closed. Drowning in front of Lukas,becauseof Lukas, wasn’t an option.

Although, it was hard not to.

Lukas looked entirely unaffected as he reached behind a column to grab his pants. I took in my fill of him while he wasn’t paying attention, promising myself I would fake indifference when he could see my face.

He was bulkier than I remembered. He'd always had a mass of muscle, but this was another level of strength.

And damn him, it looked good. His thighs were cut and defined. His abs chiseled and dusted with dark hair. His arms corded with strength that made it clear he could lift heavy things—people—without struggle.

And lower—I had to look away. My cheeks were already on fire and if I let myself think about…if I admitted how…

There were no safe thoughts where he or anything to do withthatwere concerned.

When he moved out from behind the column, pants in hand, I forced my eyes up to his face. Lukas gave me a passive look as he shucked on his slacks. Not changing it as he grabbed his shirt, crumpling it in his hand instead of throwing it on.

I really needed him to put his shirt on. Nowhere I looked was safe. If I looked at his chest, I remembered the feel of it under my hands. If I looked at his face, I remembered what it felt like to kiss him.

“I—” My mouth opened, and a choked sound came out of its own accord. I had no idea what I was going to say. “Do you, um, swim like that a lot? Now, I mean.”

I kept my hands at my sides, even though they were itching to knock on my head and make sure my brain was still there.

Lukas raised a dark eyebrow at me. “No.”

Well, okay. I figured he would walk away after that, but he just stood there, staring at me. Like he liked to see me flounder. I didn’t flounder. Not anymore. So, I tried again. “I saw June and August finally had a foal.”

Lukas’s eyes were hard, shadowed by slightly pinched together brows. But his mouth was pulling tight, curling up at the edges. He was looking at me like I amused him despite his best efforts. His head dropped, a dark chuckle escaping. “We’re not gonna do this.”

“Do what?”

“Have a friendly little chat.”

“Why?” Andwhywas I asking? I didn’t want to have friendly chats either.

Lukas’s mouth dropped into stone, matching his eyes. “I lost all interest in being your friend a fucking year ago.”

A breath caught in my throat.

“So, no.” Lukas shook his head, his disbelief clear. “We’re not gonna do this. Talk about our horses having a baby or whatever the fuck.”