Much like our fully furnished room, the basement was covered in hardwood floors with lights hanging from the ceiling. My stomach turned, the stench of stale blood entering my system well before we’d got down the stairs. Kassy wrinkled her nose and looked at me, her eyes full of questions I wasn’t sure I could answer. I squeezed her hand, which must’ve offered enough reassurance to get her down the rest of the steps. “You get used to it,” I explained as we approached a brunette behind the booth. To a human, it might have resembled a bar of some kind with private rooms all along the hall. To us? We weren’t here for the booze. I released Kassy’s hand and nodded to the brunette protected by glass walls. “Tell her who you are,” I instructed when Kassy gave me a questioning glance. “Think of it as if you were going to the bar. You’ll have a running tab and a daily limit of how much you can drink.” “How do I pay?” Kassy whispered, just loud enough for the brunette and me to hear.
