Every time he looked at his hands, Adam saw Gregory's blood, smeared across his palm, with the painted silver blade sitting at the center. Adam turned his hands over to let the blade fall, but nothing fell because the blade wasn't there anymore. He washed his hands, scrubbed his hands, and rubbed at them till he felt so sore that he wasn't sure if he was looking at Gregory's blood or if he'd peeled off his own skin in the process.

You're doing so good, Lucifer's whispered words flittered through his mind, his breath warm on Adam's skin like he was right there with him in the bathroom, staring at him over his shoulder, as his hands reached around Adam to wash Adam's hands in the sink.

"You can't stop now," Lucifer had said, kissing the nape of Adam's neck as he held Adam's armed hand up to Gregory's throat. He'd been right. Adam had known. One sin always led to another. Seeing as he'd started down that road, Adam couldn't stop anymore. Not without ruining his legacy. Not without becoming the shame that he'd always feared he would be.

"Lean into it," Lucifer had urged, angling Adam's hand and slicing away as Gregory gurgled in front of them. Dying. Dead. Gone.

Right on the cusp of presidency, Adam had fumbled so badly that he was nothing but a shady politician, making deals under the cover of darkness as he contemplated killing one of his constituents, a loyal customer and sometimes, a friend.

He'd known Gregory for years. He'd been there when Gregory's spa was just a hair salon. He'd been there when Gregory had bought his first massage chair. He'd been there when Gregory started courting a license and he'd also been one of the first clients when Gregory's salon transformed into two businesses: a salon and a spa.

To think that he was going to be there when Gregory's body was found or when his wife mourned the loss of her children's father churched Adam's stomach. Moving away from the mirror and the sink, he knelt against the toilet seat as he vomited into it, his eyes blurring with the pain of erupting bile and the heat in his chest.

He'd done it.

He'd killed someone.

He'd ended Gregory's life.

It hadn't been apparent in the morning, but the longer the day went, the more it began to occur to Adam that maybe he didn't deserve to be president. He'd always wanted to change things. Nigeria was a broken country filled with survivors who always had to bend and strive and survive because the country was one big hazard. Adam had vowed to change that. The same way he'd come in and changed Akwa Ibom, Adam knew he could do it. If he empowered federal and state officials to do their jobs in fear of legal penalties, he could get the country rolling again.

He could do it.

But what leg did he have to stand on, anymore? How was he going to be able to do any of that when he was securely in Lucifer's pocket?

Lucifer had helped him get rid of Gregory. Lucifer knew about the money that Adam had sent to Havana. Lucifer had touched Adam in a way he wasn't supposed to be touched.

Adam was finished. Even if he wanted to do things the right way, having a man like Lucifer on his shoulder would hinder all the things he wanted to do. If and when they did knock heads on any issue, Adam knew he was going to have to bow to Lucifer to protect the few good things he could do in office.

He'd spent his whole career trying not to owe people so that his conscience would be untethered and yet, in a little over a week, Adam had ruined it all.

Sitting on the floor of his office's bathroom, Adam cried. He didn't have the right to, but Adam mourned his friend. Gregory was a young man with a bright future and he was gone. His children were fatherless and Adam couldn't... he couldn't... Adam couldn't breathe as he held his neck, wheezing, and coughing as he cried.

He crawled to the sink and turned on the tap as he coughed to jumpstart his breathing again. He poured water on his face, crying profusely as the water splashed against his face, red and thick as Gregory's blood.

Adam turned from the mirror and closed his eyes, hands quivering from the thought of reveling in Gregory's blood, the way that Lucifer had wanted Adam to.

He knew his salvation had spiraled beyond repair but he didn't think he'd reached the point where he was happy about another man's death.

"Sir," Ekamma said, knocking on the bathroom door. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," he said, wiping his face.

He checked the time and it was almost midnight. His office was closer to where he'd met Gregory and Lucifer than his home. He'd gone there to calm down, forgetting that once he was in the building, Ekamma was always promptly notified.

Another example of the selfish decisions he'd been making, recently. He'd done it, not thinking that Ekamma would be drawn from her home, woken up and disturbed just because her boss was having a breakdown.

"Ekamma go home."

"Do you need anything, Sir?"

"No. Just go," he said tersely. "Thank you," he added, to relieve the harsh way he'd spoken to her.

"Okay, Sir," she said.

As she left, Adam sat on the floor again, pulling his legs up to his chin as he fought for some semblance of control. He had to get it together before he walked out of the building.

But even as he tried, he couldn't bring himself to calm down. He couldn't stop crying and he couldn't believe that he had quickly become this person, overnight.

***

Adam stayed home for days. The primaries were to hold that weekend and he figured he'd have his head on straight before the D-day. He had to. He knew he'd figure it out. It wasn't as if he was going to walk into a crowd of honest Nigerians and proclaim his sins for all to hear. He wasn't going to crack and scream in public. Seeing as he was getting used to seeing blood on his hands, every time he looked at them, Adam figured that his head had to be getting better.

Lucifer, it seemed, had taken to visiting every day, under the notion that he was a close confidant of Adam's, the one man on whom Adam could rely. He had an opinion on everything. On Adam's clothes. On Adam's schedules. On Adam's staff.

On Adam's sex life.

He was ravenous in his appetite, intent on solidifying his place in Adam's bed, like a permanent fixture, like he'd been purchased with consent. Like Adam had asked for any of it. It soon became apparent that Adam had little say in the matter of what Lucifer could or couldn't do with Adam's body, but he was slowly learning to come to terms with it.

Not just because it was enjoyable in a most carnal way. Not just because Adam was slowly becoming a coward unable to bolster any defense against the machinations of Lucifer's hands. Not because of any of that.

It was mostly because of the mind-numbing pleasure Adam was afforded every time Lucifer ministered to him, on his knees at Adam's feet, taking him in his mouth multiple times a day with the pressure and desperation of a man thirsty for more. He'd had Adam all over Adam's home, turned left and right and twisted in all positions, in manners that Adam couldn't even remember because he was too busy losing himself in the pleasure of it all.

There was no need to pretend he didn't enjoy it when Lucifer pressed against the small of his back, propping up Adam's hips as he fucked Adam nice and slow before picking up the pace and relenting, once again. It was good. In the worst way possible. And Adam was completely lost to it.

He could tell that Lucifer was training him. Like a dog on a leash, Lucifer was marking him, drawing him out and pushing him back into the dark corners of his mind as he engulfed Adam in his presence, his essence, his being, till Adam could think of nothing else.

He cried in shame when Lucifer left, but waited in anticipation for him to return. A new experience that was slowly becoming an addiction was not exactly what Adam had hoped for but it was what he'd gotten. It was what he had.

Evelyn came around to visit, worried about Adam and his newfound antisocial behavior. She wanted him to know she was there for him. She wanted him to confide in her. She cared about him. She loved him. And in all that, the final nail in the coffin of Adam's conscience was the reminder that he was betrothed to this beautiful, strong woman who was offering him a listening ear.

She didn't push for intimacy, didn't force him to open up. She'd always been that way and Lucifer had the sneaking suspicion that she may not have judged him if he told her the whole truth.

But he couldn't tell her the whole truth. Try as he might, he couldn't.

Whenever Lucifer left, part of Adam's ritual was to pick up his phone, intending to call Evelyn but it never led anywhere. Because he just couldn't do it.

The night before the primaries, Evelyn came to visit, walking into the house, just as Lucifer was leaving.

Because Lucifer had gone to take a shower, while Adam had a drink in the kitchen, he'd hidden there till Lucifer was on his way, watching the awkwardness at the door when Evelyn walked in and saw him.

"Evelyn," Lucifer said, a bright smile on his face. "I've been in Uyo for a while but I haven't really seen you."

"It's been a bit hectic, Sir," she replied, a hard smile on her face as she waited for him to pass.

"I was just having a meeting with the Governor but I'm on my way. I wish I could stay."

"It's no problem, Sir."

As he walked out, Adam held a glass in front of his face, as Evelyn's eyes found him over the wall dividing the kitchen from the sitting room.

"What sort of meeting could you two be having by 9 in the evening?" she asked.

"Is there a reason you're here?" he asked, pouring himself another glass.

She scoffed, entering the house as she let go of the questioning. "Gregory's missing," she said.

The bottle in Adam's hand slipped, landed on the edge of the kitchen island, and smashed on the ground.

"Oh god," Evelyn yelled, running into the kitchen. "Stay where you are," she commanded. "You're barefoot."

"What..." he began. "What happened to him?"

"Gregory?" she asked back as she got a broom and started sweeping up the mess. "His wife says he hasn't been home in eight days."

"Oh," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "Friday?" he asked. "That would mean... like, he hasn't been seen since Friday, right?" He cleared his throat. "I had-I had an appointment with him on Friday. Was I the last person to see him?"

"No," she said, stepping on the bin lever to open it as she emptied the broken pieces into it.

"How would you know?"

"I got footage from the mini-warehouse across the street. You know Chinedu? The owner of the warehouse? He's been having trouble with thieves lately so he had cameras installed all over his premises. He gave me access to the whole of Thursday last week. I brought it."

Finding a pair of slippers by the stairs, she dropped them in front of Adam as she gestured for him to follow her back to the sitting room. She pulled out her laptop and opened it as Adam's heart pounded in his chest. She'd said he wasn't the last person to see Gregory. He wasn't a suspect. He wasn't a suspect. He wasn't a suspect.

"Here," she said, pressing play as the video went by quickly because she'd set it to move fast.

Adam emerged from the building and seconds later, Lucifer emerged as well. Seconds that were fast-forwarded but could, in real-time, have been several minutes.

"Lucifer was at your appointment too?" Evelyn asked. "You two seem chummy."

"Was he the last person?"

As he spoke, Lucifer disappeared from the camera's view, and then more seconds passed before a woman walked into the building. Then as she was coming out, Gregory came out of the building too. Evelyn paused the video.

"Who is this woman?" she asked herself. "I went to the spa and her name wasn't in the books. No client for that time, no clients after you left. Lucifer's name wasn't even in there so I assumed he'd come to see you."

As Evelyn's words ran through his mind, Adam continued to stare at the woman on the screen with Gregory. It wasn't HD or anything, but Adam could recognize her. He remembered that face. That was the same woman who'd beaten up Adam's guards. And if she could do that, then she'd be able to handle a civilian like Gregory.

"...wonder if he was having an affair..."Evelyn continued to say, but Adam wasn't listening anymore.

Because pieces were falling into places that he would rather they steered clear of.

Lucifer had been in the building when Adam had the unfortunate encounter with Gregory on the massage table. He'd been in the building, but he'd claimed to only know about it because he watched the video. A video that Gregory had somehow chosen to make on the same day that he violated Adam's body. After years of being a client of Gregory's, he'd chosen this period to do this. He'd chosen to blackmail Adam in the vilest way possible when he'd never needed to do any such thing in the past.

And Lucifer had been there.

Not only that, but Gregory had left the spa with Lucifer's attack dog.

On Friday. The same day that Gregory didn't go home.

He'd been gagged and bound on the floor, unable to defend or explain himself. Lucifer had found him. Like he was Adam's savior. He'd found Gregory and gotten rid of him after Adam had been extorted.

Pressing the heel of his palms into his eyes, Adam felt his foolishness wash over him. Because he'd been too foolish to see it. He'd known. Fixers didn't go where there wasn't trouble. And if there was no trouble, they made trouble.

Lucifer was a fixer. The best in the country. And he'd come to Akwa Ibom.

"Oh God," Adam said, thinking back to that day in his office.

"What is it?" Evelyn asked.

He'd turned his back for a split second. He'd gone to the door to see what the commotion was and in doing so, he'd given Lucifer the privacy to do whatever he wanted to do. He must have done something. Because Adam had gone from being in control of his senses to being a horny, desperate manic in desperate need of Lucifer's touch.

That was where it all began. His cravings, the incident at the spa, the blackmail. If Gregory had left with the woman, then he'd been with Lucifer. He'd been in Lucifer's custody when he'd sent those messages asking for large sums of money.

Lucifer hadn't found Gregory for Adam.

Lucifer had used Gregory to solidify his hold on Adam.

"Adam, talk to me," Evelyn said, wiping tears from Adam's eyes that he hadn't even known he was shedding. "What's going on?"

Unable to keep it all to himself anymore, Adam let his tongue run loose as the truth of the last two weeks unfolded before Evelyn.

***

Sitting with the other candidates, Adam listened to every protocol being observed as the YPC primaries began. He was fated to win. Every pole said so. With the full backing of Chetachi and Lucifer combined, none of the other candidates stood a chance. Adam's speech and charisma were just for show, at that point. It was just so that the common man could look up and feel like he'd found a champion to send into Aso Rock. After all, if a simple, honest man like Adam could make it, surely he'd be in there for the interest of the small, powerless people of Nigeria who didn't own jets or have access to the best of the best.

At least, that was what they were all going to believe. That Adam had their backs and could do anything to help them. After all, if Lucifer disagreed with Adam, he'd have to obey, seeing as his life was in Lucifer's hands.

Out of the seventeen candidates from all over the country that were vying for the position of YPC flagbearer, three of them had already pulled their caps from the race. Speaking in turns, they took the mic and acquiesced. From the look of things, most of the other candidates were going to follow suit. Rumors of payouts pulling candidates from the race were always popular during election season, but watching it happen on the scale that it was about to, all for Adam's sake, was sickening.

To the surprise of everyone, Adam raised his hand to take a turn to speak. Because he could see where it was all going. They weren't going to give him a fair fight. Because nothing could be fair. The deck had been stacked from the beginning. If Adam didn't say something, he knew his conscience would die forever.

Moving to the mic, as his colleagues had done, Adam cleared his throat before he spoke, knowing that everyone in the arena, everyone in the country was hanging on to the words he was about to speak. He raced himself, knowing that when he spoke, he'd never be able to take it back.

Bringing the mic close to his lips, Adam said, "My name is Adam Ekikere. And I withdraw my candidacy from the race."