Page 92 of Tempt Me

God, poor Judie.

The drive was silent except for Joe’s taunts and jeers. Having ignored him for so long, he poofed in a cursing, tantrum-laden cloud.

Good fucking riddance.

Randall made it to the asylum’s back entrance just in time to hear thumping and curses from the trunk of the black SUV.

“Rise and shine, rapist. It’s time for your reckoning.” I said cheerfully, throwing open the trunk and enjoying his pained noises from the sunlight.

“Go tell Lith to give me a few minutes,” I said. “To get him nice and comfy.”

Randall looked hesitant, and I ignored his stare, slinging shrimp dick over my shoulder and kicking open the backdoor’s entrance to the basement.

“You fucked the woman who belongs to a literal insane man. You are as cracked as I am, or you’re very brave.”

A metal chair sitting next to a full-link iron chain bolted to the ground was the perfect sitting place for this fuck. I threw themonster down onto the shitty chair and locked him down while he groaned from the pain on his side.

Definitely broken ribs.

I poked the area he shielded, and he hissed in agony. “Hello. Earth to fuckhead. We’re having a conversation.”

The man spat in my direction. “How dare you handle me like this, you barbarian. You will pay with your life. A giant creature like yourself should be displayed for all to see your fall.”

I laughed out loud, hearing the mania in my voice. “Whatever consequence I receive after killing you will be worth it. You put your disgusting body on what ismine.You think you can live after that?”

“Yours? You are a true buffoon, indeed.” The man laughed back at me. “That woman is my wife.Youare the one who has trespassed on another’s territory!”

My steps faltered ever so slightly.

Wife?

He was lying. He had to be lying. Fallon wouldn’t…

“You don’t believe me? Check the thing called ‘Technology,’ you caveman, to confirm for yourself. You have interrupted the act of love. My wife and I frequently make love.”

That word was bouncing around in my head like a ping-pong ball.

Wife.wife.wife.wife.wife…

I felt my teeth chipping from the pressure as I reached into the asshole’s pocket and withdrew his phone. An image of Fallon was on the display screen. She was standing beside this monster. Her eyes were guarded and sad while her smile reflected in the image.

What the fuck?

“Yes, sir. You have truly stepped into it now. You have assaulted and threatened Ferdinand Joseph Grosvenor Derjerh, The Second.”

That name…

Images of Joe…Joseph flashed in my head like a polaroid spinning on teacups—conversations of the past blending into my future. When I first arrived at the asylum, Joe wasn’t the batshit man he was when he died. He was cruel, cunning, and as sane as any of us were.

He even had a visitor that would constantly see him until he started losing his fucking mind. A young teenager, a scrawny arrogant fuck that I bumped into a few times but never gave two shits about.

That feeling of déjà-vu hit me again. This time it made me fucking dizzy. I held my head from the pain. Joe appeared, his haunting smile inches from mine.

“Tick-tock, Soldier Tick-tock.” he sang, that demented fucked fruit loop tone of his, a shrill shriek in my ears.

“Who is Joe to you, you sick fuck,” I yelled, unable to get off the ground from the pain in my head.

The prisoner laughed, sounding just like Joe.