Where the Devil Says Goodnight (Folk Lore #1) - K.A. Merikan Page 0,148

can visit. Chort will show you the way.”

“A-are you sure?” Emil asked, but she was already turning away, with a small smile tugging at her mouth as she pushed back her long mane.

Emil couldn’t help but think that it reminded him of Jinx’s. She had been with him all this time, in the flesh even if not with her mind, and while he still hated the way she’d interfered with his life, he also knew she cared for him, or else she wouldn’t have offered her life to the forest so that Jinx could come alive and protect Emil from fatal misfortune.

He was on the fence whether he shouldn’t follow her, but Adam took hold of Emil’s forearm and tugged on it.

“We will see her soon. Maybe it’s best if you gather your thoughts first.”

Emil fell into Adam’s arms, and his body instantly relaxed into their warmth. “At least there was a point to everything I’ve been through. And what you’ve been through. I don’t know if her magic was what brought us together, but it doesn’t matter. My life finally feels whole.”

Adam picked him up with arms as solid as branches of an ancient tree and pressed his forehead to Emil’s in a tender gesture that sent the butterflies inside Emil’s stomach into a frantic dance. “Maybe this was why I could never find peace? Something was always calling me back home. To you.”

Emil shut his eyes as Adam carried him between the trees, his warmth chasing away the autumn cold. Birds sang louder than ever, and when he looked around, marveling at the bright rays transforming the woods into a golden palace, he saw that Chort’s subjects had come to welcome their king back.

Deer, rabbits, badgers, wolves, bison, and bears watched them from all the side naves of Chort’s glorious home. And crows. Oh, so many crows they resembled black tinsel draped along their way home.

“You will have to stay here forever,” Emil said, no longer worried or weirded out by the strangeness of his situation. Whether he liked it or not, Chort was his lover, and this was their reality.

Adam smiled and playfully nuzzled Emil’s cheek, as if he no longer feared the creature who shared his flesh. They reached the edge of the woods just in time to see the sun emerge from beyond the mountains and reflect off the lake. Adam placed Emil back on the ground, stepping closer to the water, which shimmered like a whole pond full of golden diamonds. Two wolves sat on either side of his giant form like personal guards and gave short howls, announcing his return.

“There’s no place like home,” Adam said when Emil entwined their fingers.

They faced the rising sun together.

Epilogue – Adam

Eight months later

The afternoon sun sizzled the skin of Adam’s nape. Emil had finished looking through the wood delivered for their new home earlier and was walking past Adam with a gait so delicious resisting the pull was futile. Adam grabbed his wrist and pulled him close.

“I love it when you walk around topless,” he said, pressing their bare chests together.

Emil’s mouth curved in a smile, and he slid his arms around Adam’s neck, leaning into the softest of kisses. “Careful. You don’t want to get too excited. We have guests soon,” Emil stated but wouldn’t pull away yet, enjoying the hug as much as Adam.

Someone might see them. Emil’s property was quite remote, but it was summer, and tourists walked by occasionally. Still, Adam no longer cared. And neither did Emil. Bringing their relationship into the open had been the natural thing to do, and while there were those opposed to a gay couple living in their village, Adam wouldn’t let anyone encroach on his life. Not now. Not ever again.

Because this valley was his.

“Do you want something to drink? So hot out here,” Emil said as he stepped away, adjusting the band holding up his long mane.

Adam gently twisted Emil’s nipple piercing. “Yes, please.”

Emil winked at him and walked off toward the small wooden shack they’d call home until the main house was finished. There was still a long way to go, but since the lottery win—courtesy of divine good fortune—they could employ a team of professionals, and the speed of construction had picked up.

Everything was going Adam’s way for once, and while he missed the possibility of travelling, since his nightly transformation forbade him from leaving the valley for more than a couple of hours at a time, he was genuinely happy in