Free Shattered (the Spellbound Series Book 2) by Rene Lanausse

notices Nick and I watching. “Sorry,” she says. “Sometimes I get ideas for song lyrics, and have to jot them down before I forget them.”
                  “How many of them become full songs?,” Nick asks.
                  “All of them, eventually. I just save most of them for myself. The ones I let the rest of the band read are the ones we get to play.”
                  “You’re in a band?”
                  “Yep. I play bass for Interrobang .”
                  “ Interrobang ?”
                  “Yeah, we’re an all girl post-punk group. You guys should come see us. I can get you into practically any show for free.”
                  “I’ve written a couple of songs,” I blurt out. I don’t know why; maybe part of me wants to be on even footing with Lily. “None of them have ever seen the light of day, though.”
                  “Really?” Lily’s attention shifts to me, and for a split second, I regret opening my mouth. Then, she asks, “Why not?”
                  “I dunno. They’re terrible. I’m a lot more proud of my short stories, but only Nick has ever read those.”
                  “And they’re great,” Nick assures me as his fingers lock with mine under the table.
                  Lily nudges Alyssa with her elbow, and says, “Allie is the same way with her poetry. She’s shy about it, but I love all of her work. Even the poems about y-“
                  “Breadsticks!,” Alyssa interrupts as the waiter approaches, carrying a warm basket of them. She shoots Lily a dirty look, and frees her hand from Lily’s as the basket is placed in the center of the table.
                  Lily smiles at us like nothing out of the ordinary happened, and asks, “How long have you guys been together?”
                  “Nearly a year and a half,” Nick replies. “How about you?”
                  “Going on four months this Sunday. It doesn’t even feel like it’s been that long.”
                  “Yeah, I know what you mean.” I can feel Nick looking right at me as he speaks, and I have to fight not to roll my eyes. I love him, but he’s annoyingly cute sometimes. Without taking his eyes off me, he asks, “How did you guys meet?”
                  “It’s the damnedest thing. I was browsing through Search and Destroy on St. Marks, and I overheard Allie talking to herself, debating whether or not to buy this eighty dollar pair of boots. I turned to her and said she’d look sexy in anything on the racks, and she took that as a challenge. We spent at least two hours playing dress up, and I got her number after making her try on nearly everything in the store.”
                  I glance at Alyssa, who’s slowly turning pink. I have to admit, it’s a cute story. Well, cute compared to mine and Nick’s, anyway. He found me breathless and collapsed on the ground after fending off a pair of vampires that were trying to kill me. He saved my life, and the next day, I saved his. I don’t remember what happened the second time we saw each other, but Nick’s explained it to me before; I couldn’t control my powers just yet, but I used them anyway to save him, and wound up accidentally killing one of the vampires assaulting him. I can’t even remember my first victim’s face, but I can imagine him being ripped asunder as my spell hits him, black blood and body parts spraying all over the room.
                  Just the thought is enough to make me feel sick. The other three continue chatting, but I tune them out, trying to focus on quelling the wave of nausea before it gets any worse. I can’t get sick. Not here, not now. After a few minutes with no progress, I stand and announce, “I need some air,” then make a beeline for the exit, ignoring