“And this time, I’ll never leave,” Erik vowed.
Dylan leaned in and whispered, “So, I take it they’re happy and Erik isn’t stuck to you anymore?”
I could only nod. The loss I’d felt had hit harder than expected, but I also knew this was the way it was supposed to be. Erik would stay with Marcus and hopefully that meant I would still get to see and hear him. Perhaps, once Dylan and I moved on, he could even text me from Marcus’ phone.
“Thank you,” Marcus said, looking at Dylan and me, “for bringing my Erik back to me.”
“It was our pleasure,” Dylan replied, smiling with that boyish charm I loved so much.
“I want to take my time and thank you properly over dinner soon, but work must come first, sadly.” Marcus stared at the castle next to us, with the stone walls and high windows. His gaze hardened into determination. “I’ve not seen or touched the man I love for fiveyears and seven months. I want this done so I can take him home and shower him with affection.Please, let’s get started.”
Erik was swooning hard next to Marcus, his eyes gleaming with love and hunger for his man. My thoughts wandered to how it would be for a ghost and a human to have sex. Then I quickly cleared my mind from the oddly disturbing—yetinsanelyarousing—images my mind had conjured into existence. I would not linger on those thoughts here. Not now.Later, perhaps.
“Then let’s get inside,” Dylan said, his voice full of determination.
“Before we do,” Marcus held out a staying hand, “I’ve been informed that two of the ghosts inside are friendly and have, until now, been happy here. A new ghost was added recently, a reluctant ghost and that’s the one we’re here to get rid of.”
“The other ghosts wish to stay?” I asked, needing the confirmation.
“Yes. They’ve been here for centuries. A woman in her fifties and her grandson, who’s in his seventies. They’re happy here and wish to stay in their family home, even with their current descendants having moved out. It’s used for weddings and other events now. Thedaughter of the current owner lives just ten minutes away. She’s our contact and her father, the owner of the castle, is too old to care for it. He lives in a retirement home in the next town over.”
“What do we know of the newly added ghost?” I asked, already dreading it. The castle itself was gorgeous and clearly old, but it was maintained well. I could imagine Dylan and I getting married here. It was truly a gorgeous place, with the big lawn and trees in the distance. I could even spot a lake further down the property.
Marcus took out his phone and began reading aloud. “We have two notes from previous mediums. One, the ghost is a female around her mid-twenties. And two, she seems angry and hostile. That’s it. We have no idea how she got here, or why she’s so angry.”
“Great,” I muttered.
Marcus gave me a pained smile. He was clearly just as excited as I was to enter the looming castle. “I don’t know about your experience with these types of ghosts. I just spoke to your boss Rino and I kind of lost it when I heard how new you were.”
I could only shrug sheepishly. “We weren’t informed that other mediums had given up the case. We thought we would be the first ones here.”
Marcus gave us a tense smile. “And that was why I lost my shit while talking to Rino. He hadn’t known either, by the way.”
“Fun,” Dylan dead-panned.
“I guess we’ll just lean on you since you have more experience,” I declared, smiling brightly to hopefully ease the tension.
Marcus shook his head smiling, “To think I’d planned on working as a social worker. It wasn’t until Erik died, that I decided to become a medium instead of suppressing my powers. I’ve worked all over the world as a medium to try and distract my broken heart. I only came back to deal with this case because I was promised help from your boss. With that said, I haven’t dealt with anything like this before either, and only have five years of experience myself.”
“I’ll help you out as much as possible,” Erik offered smoothly. “And we’ll talk about what has happened while I was stuck in Africa once this case is done.” Erik gave Marcus a pointed look that I quickly looked away from.
“Okay, skat. I can’t wait,” Marcus grinned widely at him.
“What did he say?” Dylan asked.
“Erik will help us,” I explained. “Which means there’s no reason for us to stall any longer.”
“Hey, when did Marie leave?” Erik asked, looking at the spot where her car had been parked.
“Oh, yeah, when did she leave?” I pointed to the empty spot.
Dylan looked to where I pointed and shrugged. “She left right after I ran out after you. She said goodbye and told us to call if we needed help, medical or otherwise.”
“Well, that’s reassuring,” Marcus muttered, then stalked towards the front doors.
“Very,” I agreed, then reluctantly followed.
Chapter Twenty-One
