Where the Devil Says Goodnight (Folk Lore #1) - K.A. Merikan Page 0,108

walking into the grove through the very same passage they’d used four months ago. Ghostly pale, dressed in the pajama pants Father Marek had given him last night and an open jacket, he stared at the two of them with his mouth open.

“What’s going on? Adam? Are you okay?”

Adam’s entire body itched to step away from Koterski and closer to Emil, but even in his confused state, he knew it might suggest the nature of their relationship, so he stayed put, wrapped tightly in the woolen cocoon. “I don’t know,” he said, following Emil’s gaze to the blood stains on the rock. They were shaped like his hands.

Emil stalled for only half a second before charging at Koterski like the wild north wind. He knocked the ranger to the ground with a hard punch before Koterski could have covered his face.

“What did you do to him?” Emil yelled, and tried to pin Koterski down, but this time his opponent was ready and grappled with Emil, snarling like a rabid dog.

“I found him! Gave him a blanket! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Adam snapped out of his stupor and grabbed Emil’s arm so hastily the blanket almost fell off his shoulders. “It’s true. I must have sleepwalked.”

Emil’s nostrils flared, and his green gaze darted between Adam and the forest ranger. “And why would he be walking around the forest at night with a blanket? One so nice at that,” he said, indicating the fine weave of the thing. “Jinx broke out of Mr. Giza’s stable and stormed to the parsonage as if he were having flashbacks of the fire. I saw that you weren’t there, but he was so agitated that I mounted him. And he brought me here.”

Koterski rolled his eyes and shoved at Emil’s chest. “The only reason I won’t be punching you back is that you’ve had enough for one day. Are you drunk? I get it, must be a tough time for you.”

Emil sat back in the wet grass with a helpless expression that had everything inside Adam longing for him.

“Thank you for the blanket. Emil will take me back the parsonage,” he told Koterski and wanted to grab Emil, only to realize his fingers were caked with blood as if he’d murdered a pig with his bare hands.

Koterski stepped back. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, he’s sure!” Emil rose to his feet with a snarl. “Stay away from him.”

Despite the situation being so dire, so strange, Koterski smiled. “Of course. I wouldn’t want to spoil your reunion.”

Adam’s insides twisted, and he made himself laugh despite fright clawing its way into his chest. Did Koterski know about him and Emil? Was that a threat? “Very funny.”

Emil didn’t want to deny the accusations and clenched his fists. “Let’s go.”

As soon as Koterski backed into the dusky woods like a demon that had come to taunt them, Adam followed Emil out of the grove, to where Jinx waited for them, huffing with impatience. Emil was concerned about Adam’s bare feet, but even though it made no sense, Adam was so hot on the inside he didn’t want to borrow Emil’s boots or mount the horse. In fact, riding the huge stallion while naked was the last thing he’d have been comfortable with, and the cool touch of damp leaves eased the heat inside him at least.

But as they walked back to the same path that had brought them to the Devil’s Rock on Kupala Night, fear wouldn’t stop stalking Adam, a constant reminder of the cuts on his hands.

“Do you think he’s back?” he eventually choked out, curling his hands to his chest under the blanket.

Emil swallowed. “You won’t like to hear this, but I think he’s never left.”

Adam stopped, his toes digging into the carpet of fallen leaves. The soft rustle of the trees above gained a low undertone, as if something deep in the woods had just blown a horn. “What do you mean?”

Emil pulled him into a hug, as if the argument they’d had last night was long forgotten. He’d lost so much, yet he still had enough strength left in him to offer Adam support.

“I mean exactly that. You haven’t been exorcized. Whatever was inside of you that night is still there, and for some reason, it wanted to come out tonight.”

As soon as Adam heard that, the strange heat inside him flared, an indication of the presence that shouldn’t be there. “I should have told Father Marek,” he whispered, meeting Emil’s gaze. This past summer