Page 97 of Demon's Beauty

The demon woman standing on the threshold looks so much like Finn that I don’t even have to guess who she is.

“Ma, this is Soleil,” Finn says, then turns to me. “And Soleil, this is my mother, Lynore.”

“Nice to meet you.” I extend my hand, but find myself pulled into a hug instead.

Finn’s mom smells like sea air and a light, floral perfume. Tall and lean like her son, with a surprisingly firm grip as she gives me a good squeeze.

“It’s so lovely to meet you,” she says as she lets me go. “Finn had such wonderful things to say about you when we spoke earlier today.”

“Did he?” I glance up at Finn.

His cheeks and the tips of his ears turn a little pink, and he scrubs a hand over the back of his neck.

“It’s hard not to sing your praises, sunshine.”

My cheeks heat, too, and Lynore looks absolutely delighted as she ushers us inside.

We’ve barely made it through the door before a new voice calls out from the foyer’s second-floor landing.

“Finn! You’re here!”

Another demon woman—this one younger and even more similar to Finn—bounds down the stairs and throws her arms around him.

“And you brought a guest.” She gives me a long, evaluating look.

“My sister,” Finn says. “Ellery. And Ellery, this is Soleil.”

Immediately, I’m swept into another hug.

All the affection is a bit disorienting, and I wobble back to Finn’s side when she lets me go.

“It’s wonderful to meet you both.”

“Likewise,” Ellery says, then leads the way out of the foyer and into a living space.

The room is set up for indoor-outdoor living, with wide glass windows and a door opening onto a stone patio that overlooks the sea and the sunset.

It’s breathtaking, opulent, and a reminder that Finn is, in fact, from a very, very wealthy family.

It’s been easy to let that fact slip my mind lately, especially considering most of our time together has been spent roughing it in the wilderness.

But now that I’m here, it’s impossible to ignore.

We settle onto the low, comfortable sofas in the living room. A salt-kissed breeze wafts in from outside, temperate and refreshing as Lynore cracks open a bottle of wine and divides it into four glasses.

Even the wine tastes expensive.

A white that’s light and floral, with a sparkling finish, it’s the perfect complement to this incredible place.

“So,” Lynore says when she gets settled into her seat. “I’m dying to know how the two of you met.”

“Uh…” I look at Finn, and amusement tugs his lips into a smirk. “We met… at court.”

“Oh,” Ellery interjects. “You’re one of the witches who came through with the new bargain, then? I’ve heard so much about how you all have been shaking things up at court.”

“Not exactly,” I say with a nervous laugh. “I’m just… just visiting, I guess.”

Finn’s mother and sister share a look I can’t quite decipher, and sweat breaks out on the back of my neck.