Page 57 of Feast

No. It didn’t make sense. An abolith was equipped with two sets of jaws—one on the outside for catching prey, and one on the inside for gnashing the meat into an easily digestible paste.

Ika, however, was all in one piece.

Very strange.

Wherever Ika was, she needed to find a way to escape. He fished her hands through the enfolding darkness, searching for something, anything to hold on to, but her fingers found no purchase. Only slippery, squishy membranes that gave way under Ika’s touch.

Then she found something.

A slit of some kind.

Ika pushed at the edge of it, and a breath of frigid air penetrated through from the outside world. Cold air and just enough light to glisten off the enormous internal organs that surrounded her.

Gods, so she was inside the abolith, but—

There was a grunt behind her.

A powerful hand clamped around her wrist and pulled Ika’s hand back from the slit, cutting off the light and the chilly draft.

Ika gave a startled gasp, and her already labored heartbeat spiked.

Coarse stubble scuffed at her ear.

Something grunted.

“Ee-kah.”

It was a voice that Ika had never heard before, but she instantly knew who it was. She recognized the scent now. Recognized the shape of the hard, heavy musculature pressing against her back, conforming so perfectly to the curves of her spine. She had taken that to be part of the carcass, but now she realized what it really was.

“Slaine?” she gasped. Her voice was muffled by the surrounding tissue.

“Ee-kah.”

She was beginning to understand now.

One realization followed upon the next as the pieces fell into place inside her mind.

So she had killed the abolith. Ika remembered now. The knapped stone speartip had punctured the beast’s hide. The force of its charging body had driven the point straight into its heart, just as Ika had intended.

But the impact had rattled her. Combined with the weakness of her freezing body, she had been knocked into unconsciousness. With the winter storm blowing in, she would have died from exposure within a matter of minutes.

But Slaine must have found her just in time. He had given her shelter in the only warm place available.

The bloody innards of the slain abolith.

Ika shuddered in repulsion, and her stomach turned over inside her belly. It was disgusting, yet surprisingly effective. Her naked body, which had been numb as a stone from the cold had been brought back to life by the warmth inside the dead beast.

She had to hand it to Slaine. The silent ukkur was more intelligent and resourceful than he had let on before.

Ika placed her hand on the muscular ukkur arm wrapped around her torso and gave a little squeeze.

“Thank you, Slaine.”

“Slaine. Ee-kah.”

Okay, maybe not that intelligent. Nevertheless, Ika was surprised to discover that Slaine could speak as well. He was not exactly loquacious. He had only spoken two words. Still, that was infinitely more than she had heard him say before.

The strange, damaged ukkur was full of surprises.