Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 126547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“If you’re going to fucking eat me, just do it!” Emil whined, ready to face his doom. But there was nothing even remotely aggressive in the shining eyes watching him from above. He flinched when the tips of Chort’s claws slid down his chest, but they did so without piercing the skin.
“I would never hurt you. Chort cannot hurt you. He promised,” the creature said, leaning in again to breathe in Emil’s scent.
Emil swallowed, and as the implication of what he’d heard sank in, clear air flooded his chest until his mind got fuzzy. He hadn’t dreamt up this nightmare. The supernatural was really a part of nature, and the proof nuzzled his pec.
“You won’t?”
The beast lowered its head and sat back by the rock, pulling his knees up to his chest in a surprisingly human gesture. “Of course not. I love you.”
Emil’s eyes went wide and he tried to sit up in shock only to be pulled back by the rope around his hands. “Adam? What? How?”
The goat-like features twisted. Just like that, the monstrous presence didn’t seem to take up nearly as much space, and its face gained a vulnerable quality that was so reminiscent of Adam Emil wanted to scoop him into his arms. But he couldn’t move. Chort—no, Adam—reached out and cut the rope with his sharp claws. “We’ve reached an agreement.”
Emil frantically pushed the loosened binds off his limbs and rolled off the altar, curling his toes when his feet landed on the damp ground that sent a flash of ice up his legs. “No. You shouldn’t have. You should have just—” What? Cut Emil’s heart out and eaten it as steak tartare? Blood thudded in him faster with each passing second and reached a crescendo when he looked at Adam, who sat next to him, face buried between his furry knees.. “You said you l-love me?”
Adam’s eyes opened. Their colors were bright like the neon hues of exotic fish, but the sadness they expressed—painfully human. “I’m sorry. It was the only way. I couldn’t let him have you.”
“You could have walked away from all this,” Emil whispered, rubbing his wrists, because he didn’t dare step closer yet. The screams of the four cultists were still alive in his ears yet he couldn’t find it in him to pity them. They had used his affection for Adam and lured him here under false pretenses, perfectly content with his death as long as it did not disrupt their own prosperity. They had gotten what they deserved.
Adam exhaled, sending vapor into the cool air. “No. I couldn’t have.”
Emil hugged himself as the cold stabbed his skin, a reminder that he was naked. He still couldn’t believe this was real, that he was talking to Chort himself, that Chort was really Adam, and that Adam had just eaten four people. But the insanity of it all didn’t make it false.
“I know how all this must have looked like to you, but I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t know about their schemes,” Emil uttered, finally daring to approach the massive creature that somehow had the expressions and mannerisms of the man Emil loved.
Adam shrugged, which made the beast look painfully like him. “I know, I’m sorry, I should have trusted you. I was so wrong to accuse you. I panicked and didn’t know any better. After everything I said to you, you still came back to offer your heart…” He went silent for a few seconds before picking up the fallen coat he’d earlier covered Emil with. “You’ll get ill.”
“Are you saying it no longer fits you?” Emil laughed, but felt like a shit right after it came out of his mouth. There was nothing funny about their situation, and while Adam was putting up a brave face, he was surely devastated, even if he felt he’d done the right thing.
The coat couldn’t stop the tremors running up and down his body, but it offered some relief, and as Emil zipped it all the way up, his gaze met the mismatched discs Adam now had for eyes. Tenderness climbed from the depth of Emil’s chest and up his neck, and he stepped closer, first hovering his fingers over the furry arm, then sliding them into the soft pelt.
Adam flinched, as if the touch hurt him, but he didn’t pull away. “I will walk you out of the woods. It’s a dangerous night.”
A part of Emil wanted to take Adam up on the proposition—have a bit of time to rest and regroup, but the thought of leaving him alone had Emil’s heart trembling with regret. Only days ago, he’d been ready to leave behind the one home he knew and follow Adam wherever he needed to go. That was still the case, no matter the fear and anguish of tonight.