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“Before you do anything you don’t want others to see,” he said, the authority thick in his voice. “I would consider the audience you have.”

Lukas’s eyes pulled away from my face and my head turned over my shoulder. My body seized when I saw the entire court looking at us. At the scene unfolding.

There was no telling how much they saw.

“It was the clouds,” Adrian explained under his breath, somehow keeping a pleasant expression plastered on his face. “It got dark.”

Lukas’s low grumble vibrated under my palms, reminding me that I was still pressed against him, hands planted right on his chest.

There were two options. Add to this fucking mess and let the whole court in on the fact that Lukas and I were fighting like banshees.

Or distract. Give them something better than a random storm cloud.

I could only pray that Lukas followed my lead. I snaked one of my hands around to his upsettingly muscled back, moving to his side and forcing a blush to my cheeks.

Maybe the blush was there regardless, my skin warming from the feel of corded muscle under Lukas’s dress shirt, but no one had to know that.

Thankfully, Lukas brought his hand around to my shoulder, pulling me even closer. I felt the laugh build in his chest before he released it. “Sorry for the distraction, everyone.”

“My fault. I was just poking a little fun at our bride and groom,” Adrian said. Probably flashing his signature smile too, but I couldn’t see around the cocoon of Lukas’s body.

Light chuckles floated through the crowd. The weight of their probing, interested stares pressed into my skin. Lukas and I hadn’t shied away from casual touches. But that could have been explained away by friendship.

This embrace was overtly romantic.

I was clinging to him. He was keeping me close, his thumb passing in small swipes over my shoulder.

My whole body was probably covered in red splotches. And it was for show.

I had to hammer the reminder into my brain.Thiswas why I got distracted, falling prey to my desires and throwing caution to the wind.

I processed each word, one at a time.

Lukas. Is. Not. In. Love. With. You.

He. Is. Only. Doing. This. Because. He. Has. To.

“Pay us no mind,” I said, praying no one could hear the slight wobble in my voice. “We aren’t done with this party just yet.”

More laughter. Little snippets of appeased responses. A couple glares, particularly from those who would never forget what my ancestors had done to theirs. And soon, everyone had turned away from the balcony and was refocused on the party inside.

The second the last back turned, Lukas released me like my touch felt like fire ants running over his skin.

“Let’s just get through this,” Lukas said, speaking through a tight jaw. “But this shit gets resolved tomorrow.”

His irritation kicked my own anger back into gear, this time laced with a small thread of hurt. “Not sure I’ll be able to fix the entirety of my power before then.”

Lukas’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. We willtalktomorrow.”

With a nod at Adrian, Lukas stomped back inside without me.

I steeled my spine and followed, if only to soothe any remaining flickers of doubt.

Despite the hurt, despite the distraction, I was going to play the role of the perfect leader. And then I was going to find a solution—whether that was simply being back in the sea or something else.

They’d decided I couldn’t be the next goddess of wisdom, but I’d be damned if I let them do the same thing now.

Even if a little voice in the back of my head was telling me they had a point.