Read All the Pretty Ghosts (The Never Alone Series Book 1) for Free Online

before.
    “I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you here today,” Oliver started. I could sense he was only just gearing up for a lecture.
    “I told you, I ran out of food.” And I had to make sure he was alive, but I didn’t tell him that.
    “These people could really use your help. You’ve seen how bad it is now and this is only the beginning.” There it was, the compliment that headed directly into requesting me to do things I couldn’t do. I focused way too intently on my peas instead of his penetrating stare.
    “There are plenty of people here helping. One more set of hands wouldn’t do much,” I replied. I would have told him I had leprosy and was highly contagious if it convinced him to leave me alone.
    “You know you would be more than that.”
    “Nope, that’s it. Ten fingers, it’s all I have.”
    He shifted his weight as he sat and moved his feet so he was sitting cross-legged. “Everly, don’t pretend. You have access to the kind of information they need.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you want information, you should go to the library and read a book. I’m sure it would be more helpful than me.”
    “You can speak with the dead, Ev.” He paused as my head shot up to look at him. I wasn’t sure if I had heard correctly.
    Nobody knew about my abilities.
    I certainly hadn’t told anybody.
    How on earth did Oliver know?
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
     
    I had to protect my secret at all costs. I couldn’t look at Oliver as I lied. “Speak with the dead? Yeah, right,” I said sarcastically, brushing the idea off as ludicrous.
    “Come on, I’ve known you forever. You really think you can lie to me?” Oliver laughed and I knew it was impossible to avoid his questions any longer.
    But I wasn’t going to give up so easily. “I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “So you can’t see ghosts?”
    “No.”
    “Sure.” He rolled his eyes and it instantly made me remember the last time we had hung out together. It was in my bedroom, we were studying ancient history. I was trying to convince him Cleopatra was a made up figure and he was shooting me down by applying logic and reason. He had rolled his eyes at me then too and I thought it was adorable. Now, it was frustrating.
    “I swear,” I insisted.
    “Miss Everly Anne Hilton, you are too bad of a liar to actually do it convincingly. Quit it.”
    I couldn’t keep up the charade, no matter how much I tried. Oliver had a way of seeing right through me. It only left one question: “How long have you known?”
    “A while.”
    “I don’t want anyone else to know.”
    He nodded, back to being completely serious again. “I can respect that. Nobody needs to find out.”
    I needed him to understand just how much was at stake with my secret. Even though I trusted Oliver more than anyone else in the world, he could still make a mistake. “It’s just that, if people know, then the ghosts will all know too. Sometimes it’s too much and they won’t leave me alone.”
    “Maybe there’s a reason why they won’t leave you alone.”
    Yeah, it was because they were desperate, needy, and some of them didn’t even realize they were dead. “I can’t help them.”
    “No, but they could help the living,” Oliver replied. My brow wrinkled as I tried to work out what he meant. No matter how much I stared at him, the answer didn’t magically appear on his forehead.
    I would have to ask him. “What do you mean?”
    “They could pass on their knowledge to those here. If they explained to you, you could explain it to everyone else. We could rebuild the city with that kind of information.”
    I shook my head fervently. I could not be responsible for that much. All I came down here for was food, I could not get roped into the burden of rebuilding the entire city. I just couldn’t.
    I got up, the city suddenly feeling like it was suffocating me. I had to get out.
    Oliver stood too.