Page 103 of Tempt Me

“Judas, what the fuck is wrong with you? Come on, man, stop this.”

Judas screamed and fell to the ground, holding his head in his hands and breathing heavily.

“Roe…end it…please…I can’t…”

End it?

I looked down at the gun in my hand in horror.

What is happening to Judas?

“I can’t—I…Please, Roe…pl-please…s-stop this!” Judas struggled with himself, nearly falling over the edge of the cliff.

He fell forward beside where Fallon was. I tried to collect myself, running to help my brother, but then he lifted her neck, angled up in a dangerous pose. One flick of his wrist and her neck…would be broken…like Xenia’s.

“No…”

Judas smoothed Fallon’s hair, wiping the muddy smudges from her cheeks. She moaned in pain but couldn’t move.

“Let’s recap, shall we?” Judas said. That cold, soulless tone came back into place. “You can’t see what is right in front of you. Refuse to believe that sweet, batty Judas could possibly do such a thing.”

Fallon’s head was turned sideways slowly to the point where she cried out. I reached forward, my body seized in fear, unable to move fast enough to prevent this from happening.

“Judas. Please. Stop. Please don’t do this.”

Judas licked her cheek and drew a bloody smile on her lips with his finger, turning her for me to see.

“Now, now, Roe Roe. This is practically fate. You always were lying about the voices in your head. Poor Pharaoh simply snapped.”

I shook my head, inhaling the harsh rain pouring down on us.

“Please. I don’t know how to help you. I don’t know what to do. Stop. Don’t hurt her. I… can’t handle this. Not again. Please, Judie.”

Judas screamed again, his head jerking side to side, his body convulsing in shaking, battering breaths.

“Pharaoh! Do it! I can’t stop this. Do it.Shoot me!”

I raised the gun to my brother. Tears streaming down my face as the reality of my entire fucking life crashed around me like the rain. Judas.

Judas was the other Reaper.

Not Ferdinand.

He didn’t have access to the asylum.

Ezello had said there were different kill patterns. Patients were killed in ways that didn’t match Joe’s MO, but why? How could my brother be…my daughter’s killer?

Why?

I roared, my scream releasing the pain, betrayal, rage, and absolute devastation inside me.

Judas lost himself again. His body began to jerk again, and I knew his hands were going to take Fallon’s life…like Xenia’s.

“Was it worth your pounds of silver, my brother?”

Boom.

Thirty Seven