I groaned. “Sebastian and Lucas. They’re too much sometimes.” I steeped my fingers. “Don’t worry, you can back out.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said. “I’m happy to do so. Like I’d said, it’s no big deal.” After a pause, she added, “It’s just a little strange. I guess I should get to know a bit about you.”
“Sure, what do you want to know?”
“Umm.” She glanced around the room. “Do you have family around here?”
“No. I grew up in Vegas. My parents are still there. No siblings.”
“Do they—know?”
“That I’m a vampire?”
“Yes.”
“No.” I swallowed. “It’s better they don’t know.” Becoming a vampire meant cutting off my family. Another sacrifice I’d made for what I’d thought was true love.
Nova nodded with quiet understanding.
When I asked about her family, she replied, “My parents divorced when I was a kid, and I’m not close with either of them. I’m also an only child.”
“Where do they live?”
“My mother remarried a few years ago, and they moved to Myrtle Beach. My dad moved out west and has a new family. I haven’t seen him since I was in high school.”
Before I could ask her more about that, she turned the focus back to me. “What do you like to do?”
“I work as a lab tech at the clinic most nights and generally sleep until the early afternoons. From that point, I stay busy inside. Read, listen to music, go online, hang out with the guys, play video games, stuff like that. When the sun sets, I usually walk to work or at least get out for a walk.”
“And if you’re not working?”
“More of the same, really. I might go to the movies alone. I’m not big on socializing. The only people I really hang out with are the guys here. We sometimes go to a bar or to listen to live music. I prefer smaller clubs to big crowds these days. Too much stimulation.”
“Ooh, I love going to shows, especially when the older rock bands go on tour.” Nova brought her hands together. “Gianna and I bonded over music. So many musicians who didn’t quite fit in found an outlet or a connection. It gave freaks like us hope.”
I stared at her and nodded. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Nova released a low breath. “Okay. We need to come up with our story. How we met and so on. I need to picture my life here.”
“Sure. If you did live here, what do you think you’d do?”
Nova chewed her bottom lip. “Oh, I don’t know. I mean it would be cool if I could still be working with getting books to kids, like I am now.”
I cocked my head and studied her. “What is it that drew you into that field?”
Her lips parted as she gazed off into the distance. “That same ol’ sense of being an outsider. I didn’t have many real friends other than Gianna, so I’d escape into books. I could relate to the other outcasts and think, one day, my time will come.”
I felt for her, relating to the sense of being alone all too well. “Has it happened yet in New York?”
She smiled. “I’m still working on it.”
That meant she was still searching, like me. Our gazes locked. I sensed an understanding between us. We were both misfits. I was lucky to have found the Salem Supernatural Network and connected with Lucas and Sebastian, or else I might still be moping, searching for a place to call home.
I swallowed and tried to steer us back to safer ground. “Can you say that you work for the publishing house remotely?”
“Yup. I may have to pick up a few small assignments if I end up staying for more than a week, so it’s technically true.” She glanced around and her gaze settled on Lucas’s record collection. “So for how we met, why don’t we say at a rock show?”
“Sure.” Since Diana knew how I liked live music, it was an easy sell. “Shared interest and all. Which band?”
