Page 105 of If I Stopped Haunting You

He coughed, turning away as he blushed. “Well, it’s white… and sticky… and when we left them, they’d been about to—”

“Ohmygodno.”Pen covered her ears. “Don’t youdarefinish that sentence.” She shook her head, trying to forget the image of Ghost Archie doing… well,that. “Do you think the Ghostbusters everhad to deal with this? No, you know what, don’t answer that either.”

Neil snorted as he tried to scoop her up in his arms. He teetered sideways, and Pen wrapped an arm around his waist, catching their joined weight against the banister.

“I don’t think you’re well enough to be carrying me, Neil.”

“And you’re not well enough to be walking.”

She grinned at him. “Then we’ll have to make do.”

They started down the staircase, albeit slowly, and Neil turned back to her. “Why ask so many questions if you don’t want to know?”

“There are some things in this world I’d rather stay ignorant of. Like whether or not a ghost comes, and what said come looks like.”

“You’re thinking about it.Ghost jizz.”

“Only reluctantly!”

They struggled to keep up with the others, Neil wobbling down the steps, gripping the banister with a white-knuckled hand, and Pen limping and leaning into him.

He tapped his chin. “I don’t think we can ever watchGhostbusters.”

Pen punched his shoulder. “I would have been fine if you had just stayedquiet. You’ve ruined it for me now too.”

“You’re welcome.”

They stumbled to a stop at the base of the stairs as their friends turned to them.

“Well?” Daniela asked as she crossed her arms and stared daggers at them. “Aren’t you going to tell us what all that was about?”

Pen turned to Neil, but he motioned to her. “Why don’t you tell them, Penelope? You figured it out, and Georgina wanted you to find the mausoleum, not me.”

“Mausoleum?” Laszlo asked, glancing over his shoulder as if Georgina was there.

With Neil’s help, Pen hopped through to the study and sank into one of the large leather chairs. Neil propped up her bad ankle and iced it as the others settled in the open seats. He held out the letters and journal for her, and Pen ran her hands over them, something settling in her gut.

She licked her lips, looking around at their eager faces.

“Let me tell you a story.”

Chapter 32

PEN

After she told them everything, Neil helped Pen to the kitchen.

The others lingered in the study, voices low and urgent, eyes trailing after them like they suspected more. It was wild to think that Pen and Neil hadn’t imagined it all. And though it had been a hectic few days, hunting ghosts, running from ghosts, and kissing someone who Pen had previously thought was her enemy, there was something comforting in knowing the others believed them.

Maybe it had been rude to drag Laszlo, Daniela, and Fanny along and reenact the moments in Georgina’s room, but Pen and Neil had spent days haunted and alone in the castle. It seemed only fair.

“I really didn’t expect to hurt myself.” Pen grunted as Neil set her in a seat at the end of the table. She hissed as he gently propped her foot on another seat, probing what looked to be a rather large bump and a blackening bruise on her ankle.

He laughed as he wrapped some fresh ice in a towel before handing it to her. “You were incredibly moving in your performance.”

She chuckled, settling in her seat. With a sigh, she reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying the stark contrast against her pale skin. A few stray curls flopped into his eyes, andhis lips were upturned in the smallest of smiles. It sent a fresh wave of warmth down to her belly.

“I’m thinking of cutting it,” he said.