Read Wolf Ties (A Rue Darrow Novel Book 2) for Free Online Page B

whether she knew everything. I drew myself up importantly and said, “Everyone knows Bill is De—”
    “I’m a librarian,” he interrupted. “This building is my domain, where I share all kinds of knowledge with the visitors who come here. My sole purpose is to serve you.”
    Lily blinked, too cute for words. “Serve me?”
    Bill had the grace to blush. “The general you, the nonhuman public.”
    “Oh.” Lily nodded, a little daunted but not dimmed.
    “Would you like something to drink?” he offered.
    “Bill, really?” I scolded him, but he disregarded me. As he had done the first time I visited, he led the way to his special place, the kitchen. I was curious, so I followed. The one thing I was sure of was that Bill knew Lily was a ghost, and ghosts draw energy from humans. I hoped he didn’t happen to have one or two stuffed in the freezer for the occasion of a visiting ghost.
    Bill opened the refrigerator and withdrew two bottles, shaped like the old-fashioned jugs that milk came in in the former days. He popped the caps off both and handed the one with blood in it to me. I took it with my thanks, but my gaze remained on the bottle he held out to Lily. The liquid, if I could call it that, sparkled like Bill had filled a jug with tiny flecks of glitter.
    Lily’s transparent feet touched the floor, and then she became solid. She took the offering and raised it to her lips. Her eyes widened with one sip, and she almost cooed with delight. “Energy! It’s human energy! But how can you get it in here, Bill?”
    He grinned, pleased with himself. “I do everything within my power to make sure my patrons are satisfied. The library is a place of refuge and tranquility.”
    Lily took another sip of the drink and scanned the kitchen with an expression of wonder. “It is. I love it so far.”
    “I’m glad.” He turned to me. “Can I have a quick word with you, Rue?”
    “Sure.”
    He touched the end of the bottle as Lily raised it to her lips, and I swear the amount inside increased. Of course, it could have been my imagination because I was so curious about his power.
    “Excuse us just a moment, Lily,” Bill told her. “We won’t be long.”
    The ghost mumbled something around guzzling her drink, and Bill led me back to the front room of the library. I faced him as soon as we were out of Lily’s earshot and pointed to the closed kitchen door. “Tell me you didn’t kill some human to get that energy, Bill.”
    “You better than anyone know it’s possible to draw energy from humans without killing them, Rue.”
    “That doesn’t answer my question.”
    He stood there looking so serene, so similar to the annoying ghost that I wanted to throttle him. When his eyebrows rose, I grumbled under my breath. Bill had a habit of reading my thoughts. I didn’t control them except when I thought it might anger him. After all, you go digging through a person’s head, you get what you get. My tightened lips and glare said as much.
    “I don’t want you to tell Lily I’m Death.”
    That surprised me. Bill had never hidden his origins from me. He’d been a death dealer, a grim reaper, for many centuries, and one day he just decided to quit. Come to think of it, he didn’t hide that background from me, but did he let it be known to others? Bill made a point of showing impartiality to one and all, but I liked to call him a friend.
    “Why not? Besides, you’re not actually Death anymore, right? You quit?”
    “My abilities haven’t been stripped from me.”
    I thought of Death who I had seen at the hospital, surrounded by darkness, cool, powerful, and scarcely raising a finger to draw the old man’s soul from his body. Then I recalled how that being had also drawn some of Georgia’s energy from her so that she would pass out. The whole experience was very scary.
    “You can still do that?” I asked, knowing he had reviewed my memories with me.
    “Yes.”
    I couldn’t tell by his reaction how he felt about