“Ditto.” Royce swipes his mouth with the back of his hand. I can hear K Diamond yap off more commands in the background, but I don’t care. I just want all this bullshit over with so I can get the fuck out. Get out of this hell and get back to Poppy.

“Ah, I see you’re all going to be difficult.” The voice cuts out and my eyes shift to the door. I should know better than to question any of them, but I do anyway. I want to push back against someone who has taken so much from me already—even if he’s not here to take ownership of what he has done.

Four figures emerge from the forest up ahead, and I lean against the door and watch as they get closer and closer. One is holding a bag, the other a long weapon.

“I’m just going to go ahead and say that I probably should have told you earlier… These men are not like the men you are used to. They’re not wired the way most people are.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Storm snaps, turning back to face me. It’s amusing that even though he has been taken and shoved into a weird little fucking cube with a guy who cuts himself to keep track of how many days he has been there isn’t enough for his bratty behavior to simmer the fuck down.

“Well…” I reach for my cigar box, taking out a fat trunk and clipping the end. I roll it between my lips, resting my tongue against the harsh tobacco and watching as they finally reach the door. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you all.”

Royce shifts, his shoulders arching back. He’s a fighter. Picked it the second he was put in here, but that doesn’t change shit. What K Diamond wants, he gets, and right now he’s the one holding all the power. I’m all about fighting back, but I’m not a dumb motherfucker. I can see when that just isn’t going to happen.

The door unlocks and the first man in line enters, swirling the whip around his body. He’s wearing a black ski mask and a black jacket and pants. I don’t know who the fuck he is, and I couldn’t give a fuck neither.

“Down!” he yells, and when Strom tries to defy him, the man slashes the whip across his face, smacking him to the ground. “I said… down.” Storm clutches his cheek but slowly lowers himself to the floor in front of him, as Orson follows suit.