Where the Devil Says Goodnight (Folk Lore #1) - K.A. Merikan Page 0,122

another. He caught the broken necklace and squeezed it in his palm before tossing it at Adam, because its touch burned like a broken promise.

Adam caught it and looked up, his neck tense as if tendons inside it were about to break. “Fuck you,” he said before storming off toward the church he would forever crawl back to, even when love was offered on a golden platter.

Emil wouldn’t let him get the last word. “No! Fuck you!” he yelled and marched toward Jinx.

He had his wallet on him and could get by for a few days until he figured out his shit. If he rode off now, he could get to the train station in Sanok within a few hours. It would be a warm enough place to spend the night.

He could already hear Mrs. Luty loudly complaining to everyone she met what a no-good shit he was for not taking care of his family’s graves on All Saints’ Day, but he didn’t care.

Fuck the graves.

Fuck the house.

Fuck the infusions.

Fuck money.

Fuck Dybukowo.

And most of all, fuck Adam.

Chapter 22 - Adam

Adam had confronted Emil with the hope that cutting the ties would ease the weight in his chest, but his throat kept getting tighter with each step away from the rubble. He’d been a fool. A naive man who couldn’t take care of himself, much less a flock of believers. He’d betrayed everyone—his Church, his parents, even himself—yet every inch of his skin crawled with the need to turn back and swallow Emil’s lies once more.

The archbishop had been right about him, and Adam just wouldn’t accept the fact of his nature being sinful by definition. He should have been more vigilant, more constant in his faith, but maybe if he tried, God would accept him back into the fold.

Maybe everything could still be made right?

The cold wind howled at him that it couldn’t. That he was stuck in a vessel destined for sin and would never experience peace unless he led the existence of a hermit, shielded from temptation by walls that wouldn’t let him lay his eyes on anyone.

The approaching hoof beats sent a shudder down his spine, and he stiffened when Emil sped past him on Jinx, despite there being a different route he could have taken to the Church. He probably wanted to arrive at the parsonage first, but Adam had a feeling that splashing his cassock with mud had been another of Emil’s goals. As if he hadn’t made things bad enough.

Still, Adam’s gaze stayed on the broad back, on the lush hair floating over Emil’s shoulders as he rode to free Adam of his presence forever. The hurt in Emil’s gaze passed through Adam’s mind like a boomerang covered in salt to sprinkle in his wounds, and for the briefest moment doubt scattered over his mind. But before it could have roamed free, he shook his head, determined to stand by his decision.

Even if Emil had told the truth and had never knowingly caused the possession, even if by some chance Filip Koterski had lied, he would be better off leaving everything that had happened in Dybukowo behind. Leave behind the devil, the nosy people, and the one man who’d made Adam forget his calling.

The sky was overcast with fluffy clouds, which obscured the sun, turning everything around that bit colder. The parsonage, which had been his home for long months now seemed as alien as the valley had been when he went on his first walk here, but he would soon leave this now-familiar place behind anyway.

He’d secretly hoped to still bump into Emil upon his arrival, but the room where they’d shared a bed just this morning was empty, all of Emil’s things gone, including the T-shirt Adam had slept in. Only the scent of Emil’s cologne still hung in the air, curling around him in a pull that might have led Adam all the way back to Emil if he chose to follow the wordless calling.

The scent alone was making him salivate and think back to kissing Emil’s delicious skin. No one had ever made Adam feel the way Emil had, but that was why sin was tempting in the first place. If felt good to sin. When he’d eaten six donuts in one go, or when he’d masturbated for the first time, pleasure was the thick perfume masking the odor of moral depravity.

All the signs pointed to Emil having connections to the demon, yet Adam had chosen to overlook them because