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Lukas and I stilled at the same time. I knew what Reyna meant, but with everything going on…

“That’s not necessarily true,” Lukas noted, doing his mighty best to hide the tension in his voice.

Reyna raised her eyebrows, nodding in agreement. “True. I do wish I could get away from it all sometimes. But if the infamy is the price I pay to keep doing what I love…then I’ll take it.”

That was strikingly similar to what Adrian had said about his power. Reyna stayed away from politics, despite her father’s wishes, channeling most of her energy into charitable causes.

“Speaking of,” I said, “Let me know if you want an introduction. You know Adrian’s sister would be more than happy to include you in her work.”

“Thank you, but Persy is the sweetest,” Reyna said, folding her hands neatly in front of her body. “We met a few months ago and have been talking about getting me involved with her facility. The work she’s doing is amazing.”

I smiled softly, making a mental note to check in on Persy soon. “Only she could turn a brutal prison into a rehabilitation center in less than a year.”

That earned a short chuckle from Lukas and the sound sparked bright in my chest.

Persy was sweet to her core, with gray eyes that looked at everyone and everything with wonder. But she had a spine made of that same gray, a steel that never once bowed under the pressure of what she’d undertaken.

Turning Prometheus, the prison where the worst were sent to suffer, into something that actually helped people was no small feat.

But she bounced through it like it was a child’s birthday party.

“Only her,” Reyna agreed. “Besides, I’ve yet to meet Adrian. Formally, that is.”

My brows pulled together in confusion. That seemed borderline impossible given their level of notoriety.

“He’s inside,” Lukas said. “Not an easy person to miss.”

Reyna nodded, her expression amused agreement. “Fair point. I’m going to keep an eye on Renato for a second, though. The alcohol and the fright did him in good.”

“Fright?” I asked, choosing not to point out her subtle evasion of Lukas’s statement.

Reyna hit me with a knowing look. “I heard the,” she paused, searching for the word. “Scuffle let’s call it. Renato never did well around gods or soldiers and combined…he’ll be in for some sweet memories when he wakes up.”

I forced a smile to my face, even though anxiety was slipping over my skin. We neededpeacenot Renato running home to his uncle with a threat on his life.

Reyna pulled me in for a quick hug, dropping a whispered, “Visit soon,” near my ear, then walked back over to the couch.

The second she turned, I grabbed Lukas’s hand and pulled him behind me. Well, realistically, he let himself be pulled. If he didn’t want to move, I’d be struggling against an impenetrable force.

The balcony was thankfully empty, perfect space for me to yell a little bit.

“Itoldyou that would cause a problem,” I seethed.

“And I toldyou,” Lukas said, stepping forward. Bringing us too close together. But anger rooted me to the spot. “That I didn’t give a fuck. Still don’t.”

Something like a growl got caught in the back of my throat. “This is when you decide to throw caution to the wind?”

Lukas’s eyes went molten, anger churning through them like white-capped waves. “Renato threw caution off a fucking cliff the minute he decided to cage you against that balcony.”

“I had it handled!” I said, my voice clicking up in volume.

Lukas smirked. Fuckingsmirkedat me. “Did you now?”

“Yes!” I threw my hands out in frustration. “If you hadn’t grabbed him, I would have—”

Whatever I was going to say was cut off my Lukas placing a hand over my shoulder and shoving me behind him.

Chapter 10