Page 31 of Feast

“I’d give that thing a few swats myself, but my hand needs a chance to heal.” He spat into the fire. “Whatever. Yeah. That’s enough punishment for now, I’d say.”

For now?

With shocking ease, Thusar lifted Ika off his lap and stood her on her feet beside the fire. She had not been manhandled that way before, or at least not in a long time. Rolf had used to pick her up and play with her when she was young, but when her body had started to change, he had gradually stopped doing that.

“Listen to me,” Thusar growled. “If you scream again, we’ll gag you tighter. If you try to run, I’ll give your backside another thrashing that you won’t soon forget. Understand?”

Ika nodded silently and mopped her tears with her hair.

“And if you bite anyone else,” Gunnar interjected. “Then I’ll give you that thrashing.”

Thusar chuckled, and Gunnar did too. They seemed more amused than genuinely angry, but that gave Ika little comfort.

“Sit,” Thusar commanded.

Ika did as she was told, lowering herself to the floor of the cave. But as soon as her rump touched the hard stone, she yelped and popped back up again. Her rear was still on fire from the savage spanking Thusar had just given her.

“Muk,” Thusar called. “Bring a pelt for our guest to sit on.”

In the span of two heartbeats, Muk materialized at Ika’s side, an animal skin of thick soft fur in his hands. The young ukkur smiled charmingly and spread the fur on the floor. Ika sat down. The fur provided just enough cushion to spare her tender behind from extra pain.

From her place by the fire, Ika looked up at Thusar, who was still sitting on his boulder like an old god.

Thusar didn’t speak. He merely stared down at Ika, his icy eyes glinting back the light of the fire.

Silence gathered, and Ika felt a discomfort in the pit of her stomach, like something indigestible there. When the silence became too much to bear, she broke it.

“You mentioned Rolf,” she said quietly. “You know about him.”

“Of course,” Thusar answered. “We visited him yesterday.”

“I meant—“

“Yes, I know what you meant,” Thusar cut her off. “You meant that I know that you belong to him.”

Ika had never thought about it that way before. From her perspective, she didn’t belong to anybody. But now was not the time to play word games. If this ukkur said she belonged to Rolf, so be it. She would rather belong to Rolf, her lifelong protector, than to these four cruel brutes.

“Yes, I belong to Rolf. And he will be very angry if you don’t return me.”

Thusar merely snorted.

“How did you know that it belongs to Rolf?” Gunnar asked.

Thusar tapped his nose.

“Smelled it when we were at Rolf’s place, yesterday. Then smelled it again last night when I went to take a piss.”

Now it was Ika’s turn to scoff.

“You weren’t taking a piss last night. I saw what you were doing. You were pulling on your stick until the white sap came out.”

She had thought that might embarrass Thusar, but he seemed unfazed.

“So you admit that you were spying,” he growled. Gods, the sound of his voice rumbled right to her very core. “You were spying, presumably against Rolf’s will, and then you got yourself caught by the nith.”

Ika shivered at the thought of those monstrous creatures.

“What did the nith want with you?” Thusar asked.