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June snorted happily, her tail starting to flip up and down again so that we moved in a circle.

A flash of deep blue caught my attention, and I pulled her reins back softly. She listened. For just a second. Until she saw who was coming toward us.

Lukas and August were on a straight shot in our direction, moving through the water like it didn’t even exist. Lukas had that competitive gleam in his eye, the same one that could never resist a challenge.

And he was shirtless, but I tried to ignore that.

If he wanted a challenge, I’d give him a challenge.

Even though I could feel June wanting to go toward them, I let her in on my plans. I wasnotletting them catch up to us.

Lucky for me, in addition to being a sneaky bitch, June was fast as hell.

She took off, sprinting through the water toward the front end of the palace. There was a drop off the shelf on the backside of the house where we could lose them.

“I will catch you, Daphne,” Lukas yelled, his voice splitting through the waves. “I promise you that.”

I’d let you if it meant you’d kiss me.

“I’d like to see you try!” I yelled instead. I had a bad history with saying things like that to Lukas.

Lukas laughed, full and deep and my stomach twisted into a knot.

I tore my eyes off him to focus on guiding June. We’d stopped keeping track a long time ago, but I was pretty sure I was still in the lead. Even though I had a sneaking suspicion Lukas was intentionally losing just because he liked chasing me.

Now, he was probably looking for a reason to smoke me and rub it in my face. Getting me back for what he thought was a senseless escape from this palace.

It wasn't senseless in the slightest. A little impulsive, even a little unwise, but not senseless. And that was why I wasnotletting him win.

I tapped June lightly on the side, pushing her faster through the water. I stole a glance over my shoulder and Lukas looked just as determined. His hair was still tied back. His eyebrows pushed together in concentration.

He only ever looked that focused when he was trying not to—

No. Nope. I cut that line of thinking off at the knees.

There was absolute zero space to be thinking about Lukas in that state. Not when I had a race to win.

June powered up the steady slope of the ocean floor, rising with the levels of the palace to our left. If we could just get up to the ridge, we could drop down then hide in the shadows to lose Lukas and August. Then we could sneak out and sprint back to the stables.

We closed in on the drop in seconds, not waiting for a moment before tipping over and barreling straight down. I could feel Lukas close behind and adrenaline pumped through my veins like lightning.

I saw a ledge out of the corner of my eye and moved June down, spinning us out of our rapid descent to hide under it. The shadows concealed us enough, but now we’d be blocked from above, in case Lukas noticed the reflection of June’s scales.

June was huffing, small bubbles forming as she breathed out in long breaths. My own heart was about to beat out of my chest and I could feel myself smiling.

My competitive nature aside, there was something so…heady about being chased. The awareness of someone at your back. All the power you would use for sight doubling down in your sense of touch, the sensations more powerful.

And when that person was a sea god carved from pure masculine marble—it made for a particularly intense swath of anticipation.

Silence pulled me out of my Lukas-induced haze. Purposeful silence.

A second later, August’s tail slapped over the ledge and I yelped.

Shit.

Not thinking twice, I made June dive straight down.

“That was smart, Daphne,” Lukas called from behind me, sounding more like he was speaking directly into my ear. “But I know how you think.”