Succubus Shadows Page 0,55

is that?"

Unwrapping his cloak, he revealed a stack of books. I sifted through them with the wonder I'd always had for such things. Boccaccio's The Decameron. Ovid's Amores. Countless others. Some I'd read. Some I'd longed to read. My heart gave a flutter, and my fingers itched to turn the pages.

"I've gathered these from some of my friends," he explained. "They're worried Savonarola's thugs will seize them."

I frowned at this reference to the city's most powerful priest. "Savonarola?"

"He's gathering up 'objects of sin' in order to destroy them. Will you hide these here? No one would force them away from someone like you."

The books practically shone to me, far more valuable than the jewelry I'd amassed. I wanted to drop everything and start reading. "Of course." I flipped through the pages of the Boccaccio. "I can't believe anyone would want to destroy these."

"These are dark days," he said, face hard. "If we aren't careful, all knowledge will be lost. The ignorant will crush the learned."

I knew he spoke the truth. I'd seen it, over and over. Knowledge destroyed, trampled by those too stupid to know what they did. Sometimes it happened through forceful, bloody invasions; sometimes it happened through less violent but equally insidious means, like those of Fra Savonarola. I'd grown so accustomed to it that I barely noticed anymore. For some reason, it hit me harder this time. Maybe it was because I was seeing it through his urgent eyes and not just observing it from a distance.

"Bianca?" Niccol貌 chuckled softly. "Are you even listening to me? I'd hoped to spend the night with you, but maybe you'd rather be with Boccaccio...."

I dragged my eyes from the pages, feeling my lips quirk up into a half-smile. "Can't I have you both?"

Over the next few days, Niccol貌 continued to smuggle more and more goods to me. And not just books. Paintings accumulated in my home. Small sculptures. Even more superficial things like extravagant cloth and jewels, all deemed sinful.

I felt as though I'd been allowed to cross through the gates of heaven. Hours would pass as I studied paintings and sculptures, marveling at the ingenuity of humans, jealous of a creativity I had never possessed, either as a mortal or immortal. That art filled me up with an indescribable joy, exquisite and sweet, almost reminding me of when my soul had been my own.

And the books...oh, the books. My clerks and associates soon found their hands full of extra work as I neglected them. Who cared about accounts and shipments with so much knowledge at my fingertips? I drank it up, savoring the words - words the Church condemned as heresy. A secret smugness filled me over the role I played, protecting these treasures. I would pass on humanity's knowledge and thwart Heaven's agenda. The light of genius and creativity would not fade from this world, and best of all, I would get to enjoy it along the way.

Things changed when Tavia showed up one day to check in. The demoness was pleased at the report of my conquests but puzzled when she noticed a small sculpture of Bacchus on a table. I hadn't yet had a chance to hide the statue with my horde.

Tavia demanded an explanation, and I told her about my role in protecting the contraband. As always, her response took a long time in coming, and when it did, my heart nearly stopped.

"You need to cease this immediately."

"I - what?"

"And you need to turn these items over to Father Betto."

I studied her incredulously, waiting for the joke to reveal itself. Father Betto was my local priest. "You can't...you can't mean that. This stuff can't be destroyed. We'd be supporting the Church. We're supposed to go against them."

Tavia raised a dark, pointed eyebrow. "We're supposed to further evil in the world, my darling, which may or may not go along with the Church's plans. In this case, it does."

"How?" I cried.

"Because there is no greater evil than ignorance and the destruction of genius. Ignorance has been responsible for more death, more bigotry, and more sin than any other force. It is the destroyer of mankind."

"But Eve sinned when she sought knowledge..."

The demoness smirked. "Are you sure? Do you truly know what is good and what is evil?"

"I...I don't know," I whispered. "They seem kind of indistinguishable from one another." It was the first time since becoming a succubus that the lines had really and truly grown so blurred for me. After the loss of my mortal