Belle moved through the dark basement until she reached the far wall. Behind an old shelf, she found the hidden wooden door Rohan had once shown her before her stomach had grown to this size, and she saw him leading Rav to bring in ice to store. She pushed it open, and a rush of cold air escaped.
It was the ice cellar, small, damp, and carved into the ground. Blocks of river ice lined the corners, insulated with straw and sawdust. In a crate near the coldest side, several dark bottles glinted in the dim light.
She reached for one of them, the cold biting her fingers. Not wanting the cold to escape, she hurriedly closed the space back to how it was and moved back, her fingers trembling as she brought the bottle closer to the heat of her lamp to heat the blood. She knelt before the cellar, waiting patiently for it to finish heating.
