Page 55 of Astrid at Sea

“Well–” I started, but Caspian beat me to it.

“They’re all cannibals!” Caspian declared with wide, fearful eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Laurence snickered, and the rest of the crew laughed—all except Hammond, Caspian, and I. Crosby didn’t laugh either, but that was because he was eating red berries from the palm of his hand. I don’t think any of us noticed him swipe those, either.

Hammond pursed his lips. “I hate to agree with Caspian, but he’s right.”

“This is nothing to laugh about,” Roscoe scoffed. “We’re not joking. We’re docked at an island full of cannibals.”

“Cannibals?” Viktor repeated, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

He didn’t believe us. I didn’t blame him because if the roles were reversed, I would also struggle to believe it.

But we weren’t joking, and we hadn’t misheard.

These people were cannibals, and we needed to leave as soon as possible.

I turned around on the barrel to face my husband. I pleaded with my eyes for him to believe it.

“We’re being serious, Viktor. Brank and two others were taking us on the part of the tour that we had missed. When we got to the women working on the feast for tonight, they were talking about the meat they were cooking as if they were people.”

“There has to be some misunderstanding here,” Garth said from beside us, but I shook my head again.

“We can’t all of misheard them,” I insisted. “Not only were they referring to the meat they were cooking as a human, but several of them were wearing these necklaces made out of teeth around their necks. You can argue that it’s animal teeth, but when you see them later, you’ll see that they look just like human teeth. Like mine and yours.”

“I did notice that the meat looked a little strange when we walked by,” Gustav murmured, beginning to look doubtful. “It was redder and fleshier. Less fat than most animal meats would have. The cuts are different than I’m used to as well.”

“You could tell all that by just looking at the meat?” Viktor asked, not looking as sure as before but still not wholly convinced.

Gustav nodded. “We’re very far from Jorvik. I didn’t say anything earlier because I thought maybe the animals were different here. I didn’t think much of it then, but the more I think of it now, the more it seems that human meat could be a real possibility.”

Murmurs sounded around the group as we considered everything we had learned about the island of Canne. When I heard a small meow and something furry brush up against my ankle, I reached down and picked up Kis. I immediately buried my face in her fur, nuzzling her close.

If these people turned out to be cannibals and they wanted to eat us, did that mean they would eat Kis, too?

As if Viktor could sense the direction of my thoughts, he chuckled and reached around me to drop his hand on Kis’ head, scratching between her ears the way she liked.

Okay, perhaps they wouldn’t eat Kis, but I wasn’t willing to take that risk.

These people were cannibals, after all.

“I couldn’t help but notice that there weren’t any children around the island,” Jerrik murmured, adding his two cents. “There’s so many adults but no children. We could argue that maybe they’re all asleep or playing somewhere, but there’s no toys, no structures for them to play on…nothing.”

“Are you saying that they’re eating their own children?” Manny gasped with wide, fearful eyes.

Jerrik shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know.”

“How can they eat their own children?” Odin frowned, looking deeply disturbed. “Don’t they have hearts in their chests?”

“They’ve probably eaten many hearts,” Caspian snickered, but no one laughed.

“This is all so bizarre,” Dagfinn groaned, running anxious fingers through his hair. “But there are too many things to ignore and pass off as nothing.”

“It’s not nothing,” Viktor frowned, his arms subconsciously tightening around me. “But cannibals? I’m still not completely convinced.”

“What would it take to convince you? Have one of them bite down on my bones like a chew toy?” I snapped, the words coming out harsher than I had intended. Immediately, I was regretful, but Viktor shook his head subtly, not needing an apology.

“I’m sure there’s an explanation for all of this, but even if they do turn out to be cannibals, the last person I would want them to eat is you, my siren,” he laughed and leaned in to kiss my cheek.

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