Page 10 of Demon's Beauty

Allie is put together impeccably; her emerald gown falling gracefully and her long brown hair still perfectly in place even after a trip through the Veil and a portal to get us here.

In comparison, I’m still wearing last night’s skirt and blouse, rumpled and stained in a few places with the ingredients I used for the dreamsbane. My hair was tied back into a braid at one point, but that’s long since given up, and I don’t want to think about what a rat’s nest it must be.

It’s not like anyone is looking at me, specifically, but a few gazes slip from Allie to me and a few brows furrow in confusion at what a mess of a witch like me is doing with their queen. I hastily run a hand over my skirt and unsuccessfully attempt to smooth my hair into something resembling order.

“It’s weird, I know,” Allie mutters to me after the dozenth or so well-wish she gets from a passing demon. “The way everyone stares. It still feels like I’m playing a part most days.”

“But you play it pretty damn well,” I mutter back. “Seriously, you’re great at this.”

She grins, and is about to say something else when she spots someone and waves. “Vayla!”

I follow her gaze and find the court’s resident healer heading our way, one brow raised high when she sees me standing next to Allie.

“Didn’t expect to see you back at court.”

Vayla’s got the sort of blunt, no-nonsense attitude I always appreciate in a witch. Not that she’s a witch in the traditional sense, but she told me the last time I was here that she has an ancestor way back in her family line who was one of the first Tithe brides, like Allie was for King Eren. It’s given her a bit of witchmagick running through her veins, which she puts to good use in her position at court.

I give her a half-smile. “I didn’t really expect to be back, either, if I’m being honest.”

“Well,” Allie says. “I guess this will save me a trip down to your workshop, Vayla. Soleil is here to help you with Ariana’s grimoire.”

Vayla’s expression lights up at that. “Really? That’s fantastic. I’ve been waiting to tackle some of the sections on potions and herbal blends, so your timing is perfect.”

Another forced smile, a shrug, and I hope Vayla can’t see right through me.

“Happy to help. I had some free time and remembered the conversation we had when I was here tending to Joan. Thought it was past time I paid the demon realm another visit.”

Allie tactfully doesn’t mention this visit is coming on the heels of impulsively fleeing the coven hall and at the potential expense of my Ascension.

The less Vayla knows about my real reason for being here, the better.

The lessanyoneknows about my real reason for being here, the better.

It’s just for a little while.

Just long enough to do some good work on the grimoire and clear my head. A change of pace. Some different scenery. An opportunity to get out of the coven hall pressure cooker and gain some perspective.

Fortunately, Vayla doesn’t seem to notice anything is wrong. She and Allie chat about a few patients Vayla has seen lately, and something about a flower she’s planning to harvest that I don’t quite catch as my eyes wander to the top of the atrium in the center of the mountain. It goes all the way up to the top, where a tiny sliver of daylight is just—

“Did you know Seren is here?”

Vayla’s words jerk me back into the conversation and throw me immediately off balance.

It’s been a couple of months since I last saw my twin.

Things between us were… better, but only slightly, when she and Callum went back through the Veil after the bounty they were chasing for the queen of Faerie.

We’re still nowhere near how we used to be, nowhere near as close or trusting of each other, but it was a start.

“Is she?”

“Yeah,” Vayla says. “Not for too long, I don’t think, but she and Callum were staying over last night as guests of the Nighfalls.”

I’ve got no idea who the Nighfalls are, but if Seren is here at court…

“Can you take me to where she’s staying?”

Apparently my impulsive streak hasn’t entirely died down, because suddenly the only thing I want to do is see my sister.