Page 28 of Love and Death
“No,” she says, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We cannot.”
“What? Why not? This could be our only chance!”
Florence shakes her head vehemently, her hand keeping me firmly in place.
“No, it is not safe. Not yet.”
“Safe?Nowhereis safe for me here,” I press. “You were able to find a way through the palace to get to me ... Surely, we can escape the same way.”
She cocks her head slightly to one side at this.
“No, I am a succubus, sweet mortal.”
“So?”
“So, unlike you, I am noticed little more than a shadow would be in the pitch of night.”
“But you are so beautiful; how can that possibly be true,” I say. “Even the stories we mortals have written about succubae would beg to differ.”
“That does not surprise me,” Florence says with a small chuckle before the humor drops from her voice, “but the mortal realm is far different than our own. Your kind is known for being easily blinded to the truth, especially when physical beauty is concerned. To those who live here … to those who can see the truth of what I am, I amnot nearly as alluring as you have been led to believe.”
“The truth?”
“I am loathed amongst gods, precious mortal. I am the embodiment of our kind’s greatest fear, for I am soulless. This is the only life I will ever know. Whereas your soul shines brighter than the stars, I am but an empty husk. My kind was created solely to serve and to be used by those in power. Here, I am valued little more than the dirt one might tread upon, less even, for I have no say over my own life. The moment my maker is finished with me, I will return to dust, as if I never existed at all.”
I stare at her in disbelief, barely able to wrap my head around what she’s just told me … It just doesn’t make sense to me, but then again, not much of the Underworld and its ways do.
Still, how can she possibly believe herself to be so insignificant, let alone soulless? Surely, at least that cannot be true. I refuse to believe that someone who has shown me such kindness has no soul.
But these thoughts will have to wait, for now.
“Then can you not show me another way to escape? Perhaps one with fewer guards?”
“Did you not hear a word of what I just said,” Florence questions, her eyes searching my face in dismay. “You are a beacon to the world beyond this room. If you were to try to escape on your own, the entire palace would take notice the moment you were spotted.”
“Then I won’t let myself be spotted.”
“Impossible, even I couldn’t manage that.”
“Please, Florence,” I plead. “If we could justtry, thenwe might stand a chance of escaping this city and this pitiful form of existence together.”
She shakes her head at this.
“Mortal dearest, even if I could find a way to get you past the guards and through the streets unseen, I cannot step foot beyond the city gate.”
“That can’t be true, how else would we have so many stories about your kind in our realm?”
“Succubae are bound to the city and the gods they serve. Those who do leave, are only able to do so at the bidding of their masters,” she explains, her voice soft but cold. “We go to the mortal realm to serve our masters’ just as we would here, in whatever way they bid us. I daresay that, aside from mentioning our allure, the tales you have about us are far from … pleasant.”
She isn’t wrong, and my cheeks burn with shame as I recall the themes of depravity and great cruelty that often accompanied such stories. Now, I have to wonder how much of what we know about succubae is true, and what has merely been contrived for the gods’ dark amusement.
“If you cannot leave, then would you consider giving me the keys,” I say. “Let me take my chances at escaping alone, should the time come.”
The succubus stares at me, her brow furrowing in confusion.
“And where would you go?”
“I … I don’t know.”
