Page 56 of Feast

He looked down at the beautiful shivering creature in his arms. His heart swelled with pride. He knew that his Ika was an exceptional creature. But he never would have guessed that she could slay a full-grown abolith all by herself.

He would remember never to underestimate her again.

But how would he make sure there was a next time?

Slaine cast his eyes around frantically, searching for anything that he could use to keep his Ika warm. He wished Gunnar were here. He knew how to solve any problem. Or Thusar. He would know what to do.

But they were not here now.

Ika’s life was in Slaine’s hands, and he could not let her down.

His eyes lighted on the dead abolith.

Slaine stared at the great dead beast. Tendrils of steam were rippling off its body. Slaine had killed and butchered such a creature before. He knew that it was insulated by a thick layer of blubber designed to keep out the cold.

And this was a fresh kill. Its blood and internal organs would still be hot inside.

Slaine turned his eyes from the beast to Ika, then back to the beast again.

The gods provided, just as Slaine had known they would.

He drew his knife.

CHAPTER 19

Warmth.

In that place between sleep and wakefulness, Ika thought she was back in Rolf’s den. Somehow her old protector had found her, and he had brought her back to the familiar safety of her home.

But as her consciousness gradually returned, Ika realized that was not the case.

The warmth she felt now was not dry cavern air heated by a fire. There was no crackle of wood, no orange glow cast by leaping flames. In fact, there was no light at all, and the only sound was the slow, steady rhythm of her own breathing.

The heat seemed to press in from all sides, soft and wet against her skin.

Ika’s pulse quickened, and with each thump of her heart, more adrenaline surged through her system, bringing her to full alertness.

What the rot was this place?

Ika licked her lips and tasted the coppery tang of fresh blood. When she breathed in, she caught the musky scent of abolith in the humid air that filled the dark enclosed space.

Images came flooding back to her mind.

Memories of the last moments before she blacked out.

Ika remembered being naked. She remembered the intense, numbing cold as the wind drained away every last bit of heat from her body.

She remembered the spear in her hands.

The charging abolith.

And then…nothing.

Is that where she was now? Inside the belly of the abolith?

Had she failed? Had she flinched at the last moment? It must be so. She had not killed the abolith, and now the beast had swallowed her whole. That would explain the hot, wet tissue pressing against her body from every side.

Ika considered this for a moment.