Page 96 of Tempt Me

He laughed hysterically. “Oh, Pet, your lies are beautiful. Maybe that’s why I grew so attached to you over the years. Your pathetic family was auctioning you off and I finally had you. That damn brother of yours nearly ruined it but no matter. It was easy enough to keep you in line after I killed Noah. Their prized stallion child was the perfect setup to seal the deal.”

I shivered.

Killed…Noah?

He waved the gun around in front of Taliah’s face, using the barrel to scratch his cheek like he had an itch.

“See, that snoop caught me one night tracking you. He was always that good big brother. I knew letting him live would only get me into trouble and prevent the big finale when I find her.”

Find…her?

“Oh, don’t look so miffed, Pet. You threw a spanner in the works by getting nice and cozy with none other than Pharaoh Fucking Masters. I must admit the cosmic irony isn’t lost on me, dear. A wife for a wife, as it were.”

“What do you mean a wife for a…what did you do to Ariah Masters, Ferdinand?”

He sighed in mock sadness. “I killed her, of course. She was supposed to save my dear Gemmy from her own mind. But she failed that even in her death.”

Who was Gemmy?

“Ferdinand…I don’t understand. Why would…why would you kill them? Noah and Ariah…”

The shots ricocheted in my mind that night in the graveyard, and I zeroed in on the gun.

“Hannah. You killed them all... Why? This isn’t who you are.”

The monster smiled, and I knew I couldn’t be more wrong.

“Stupid girl. I am bred of greatness. It was always my purpose to finish his great work.”

Bred of greatness…

“All those work trips…you were killing those girls, weren’t you? How long has this gone on? Are you the Reaper that desecrated the patients at the asylum?”

Taliah spoke up. “No. That was a man named Joe—”

He cut her off and sang those haunting lyrics I’d heard too many times now.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock, the sleeping doll.”

“What the fuck does that mean, you creep! Are you working for Joe? You tried to kill my brothers!” Taliah said.

Ferdinand threw Taliah down onto the ground and pointed the gun at us.

“No, you ignorant bitch. Joe is my grandfather. I am bred of greatness. I will finish his work. Tick-tock, tick-tock.”

Ferdinand was losing his sense of sanity. He was slipping. He kept smacking his head with the metal, his words growing more and more broken into musical syllables.

“I don’t understand…tick-tock…no…sleeping doll, don’t ‘tick-tock’ me. I…am…me.”

Taliah and I watched him struggle to hold on. Neither of us could understand what was happening to him. He was holding his head, screaming in agony.

“Gemma. No. Tick-Tock. Why? Why would sleeping doll tick…tock…me?”

“Ferdinand…?” I tried to get his attention. He was truly succumbing to his mind, an implosion of mania trapping him within his gray matter.

His movements were off, jerking more than usual. His breathing picked up. I took a deep breath, giving Taliah a look before sliding slowly off the bed and walking toward him. Ferdinand was…gone. In his place was…a monster.

“Tick-tock, sleeping doll. Soldier One is done. Soldier Two is who? Soldier three is…me?”