Page 15 of Demon's Beauty

But the truth still stands that I’m a stranger to her, and her sister isn’t exactly going to spill all her secrets to me.

For a moment, I let myself hope.

Perhaps that’s it.

Perhaps Soleil really is distracted by whatever’s troubling her, and her rejection had nothing to do with me at all.

And yet…

I can’t forget the horror on her face, the desperation in her eyes, the way she looked as if she just received the worst news she could ever have imagined.

How am I supposed to come back from that?

Defeat sits heavy on my shoulders, and I give my two friends one last half-hearted smile before I turn to go.

“I’ll talk to her,” Seren says again.

I force myself to shrug. “If she’d rather not speak to me, that’s fine. I don’t want to force her into anything she doesn’t want.”

The words taste sour on my tongue.

Of course I want Soleil to change her mind.

Of course I want to talk to her.

But the same old small, tired voice inside me whispers it won’t make a difference, anyway. Perhaps like everyone else in my life, my mate is disappointed with me, expected more of me, would rather not trouble herself with me when all I can offer are unmet expectations.

Seren and Callum share a look I can’t decipher and don’t want to linger on.

Goddess, I want to run, too.

Away from this happy couple. Away from this court. Away from all the ways I’ve already failed my mate before I’ve even gotten the chance to speak with her.

Without another word, and unable to meet my friends’ eyes, I leave their chambers, off to somewhere I can be alone and avoid disappointing anyone else today.

7

Soleil

My mind won’t stop racing.

All the way down the corridor leading away from Seren and Callum and… Finn, I can’t hold on to a single thought.

They all run through me like water, slipping through my fingers before I have even a second to hold and examine them.

The demon.

His hopeful and then crestfallen face.

Me, running out of there like an idiot.

The thread of magick in my chest that’s still pulling tight.

Pulling me back to him.

I keep going.

Slowing from a jog into a brisk walk, I’m so distracted I nearly run into another demon at the end of one of the long, winding hallways. He’s tall, like all demon men seem to be, and wearing the same armor the guards at the court gates were.