Free Spellbound (the Spellbound Series Book 1) by Rene Lanausse

you.”
    We haven’t entirely decided on where to go yet, so Nick and I walk up to Fifth Avenue, and turn south to walk along Central Park. It’s been snowing off and on the past couple of days, and the whole park is covered in a thin blanket of white. We weave through the slow-moving crowds of tourists, and observe the park’s transformation into a winter wonderland, all while debating whether we should eat at Panera Bread or Uno’s. I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation; I’m the only one that can actually digest the food we decide on, so I should have the final say. Nick seems to realize this around the same time I do, and he laughs as he says, “Alright, you pick.”
    I decide on a restaurant called Thai 51 that my mom and I enjoy. It’s about forty blocks away from where we are, but I’m not complaining. The long walk just means more time spent with Nick. By the time we get there, the sky is turning vibrant shades of orange and pink, and the street lamps are just beginning to flicker on. The restaurant I picked doesn’t particularly stand out from the rest of the block, but the inside brings a pleasant surprise; it’s nowhere near as busy as they are on a usual Friday night. Tonight, a soothing love song is playing over the radio, the lights are dimmed way down, and we have the whole restaurant to ourselves.
    The setting is almost too romantic for me to believe it was a coincidence. I turn to Nick, and ask, “Did you plan this?”
    He smiles at me, but he’s shaking his head. “You picked this place, remember? I guess we just have good luck.”
    We take a seat by the window, and the only waiter in sight hands us a couple of menus. Nick stares at his menu for a moment, then asks, “Any chance they have O positive on tap?”
    “Sadly, no,” I tell him, “but their pad thai is amazing.”
    “I wouldn’t know… I’ve never tried Thai food before.”
    “Really?”
    “No, I was more of a baked ziti kind of guy… God, I miss solid food.”
    A couple of silent minutes pass, and the waiter comes back, asking what we’d like to order. I ask for a plate of pad tamarind with chicken, while Nick simply says he isn’t hungry. It seems like now that we’re no longer “just friends”, we’re back to square one; neither of us knows what to say to the other. After a couple more minutes of awkward silence, I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “So, there’s something you’ve never explained.”
    “Hm?” Nick looks up from the list of specials he was reading.
    “Why did you save me, back when we first met?”
    “Well, I was in the neighborhood, and I heard a bang from inside that burned out building. I figured that wasn’t normal, and when I peeked in to investigate, there you were, collapsed on the ground by the entrance. So I picked you up, and I would have just pulled you out, but then I noticed your eyes… and that’s when I made the decision to stay and fight.”
    “What’s so special about my eyes?” Nick doesn’t answer, but instead lets his gaze drop to the table between us. I lean in a little closer, and ask, “Why won’t you tell me? You know so much about me, but I rarely ever get to learn anything about you.”
    Nick sighs, and says, “Okay… Your eyes reminded me of my little sister, Caroline. Hers were the same exact shade of green, and I loved her like there was no tomorrow. She was the only one out of my entire family that didn’t treat me any differently after I turned. So, I would bring her home after school on some days, but on one of those days, an older vampire tailed us home… Before I could unlock the door and get Caroline inside, the intruder knocked me out, and drained my little sister until there was nothing left of her but sagging skin and a tiny pile of bones.”
    He doesn’t need to explain any further. I’ve never had a brother or sister of any age, so I can’t imagine what losing a sibling must feel like. But I know that if I met