“That one is yours—” Diamond points to the igloo I’m leaning on. “You will stay here until I deem you worthy of leaving.” Diamond and Skully are brothers, but not blood. They’re like a ridiculous duo. I didn’t have much to do with Diamond growing up, but I had heard stories of him through TI. None of them great. He leads a normal life in the outside world apparently, a life where his family and kids have no idea the kind of dirty shit he does over here, or in his compound. The robes represent him and Skully. The white robes are for Skully, the black for Diamond. No one but me knows that. It’s Skully’s way of trying to make him feel like he is a decent person beneath it all. I think he really thinks he is… but he is also delusional, so there is that.

“And when will that be?” I keep my eyes locked on his as he moves around me, reaching into his pocket for a chain of keys. He pushes one into a keyhole and unlocks it.

“When I tell you you’re free.” He widens the door, gesturing inside.

“You’re not going to let me out of this fucking thing, are you?” Crows clap their wings up above, the wind whistling between the branches that hang ahead.

He shakes his head slowly. “No. But don’t worry.” He leans down, entering into the pod and gesturing to the space. “You have everything you need in here.” I follow his footsteps, ducking beneath the space and standing straight once I’m inside. There’s a double bed pushed up against the side, a small rug on the floor, and a bathroom to the other side. Everything somehow screams I have money, yet this is what he chooses to do with it.

I swallow past the anger of having him inside such a small space. Fighting the urge to not wrap my fingers around his neck and watch as his life bleeds from his eyes.

His mouth twitches. “If it’s any consolation, I had nothing to do with dear Poppy’s death…” Liar. He had everything to do with her. I wince at the mention of her name, and before I can gather my thoughts again, he’s slammed the door closed and locked me inside.

Silence. Nothing. But silence.

He dangles the keys in front of him and I launch forward, banging on the glass, only it echoes with silence. A Cheshire Cat smile spreads over his face as he wiggles his finger in front of me. “No, no! Don’t worry.” He tilts his head. “I’m going to bring some friends in here for you by the end of the week.”