He just laughed at me. “You wanted us to eat these last night, along with all the cakes I brought from the bakery?” His raised eyebrow was enough to make my shoulders slump in defeat. I guess he had showered me with baked goods. I doubted my stomach could’ve handled candy as well.
“Fine, I guess they’ll do as breakfast in the car,” I sighed.
“Marcus is bringing us breakfast. These,” he shook the candy, “are for us to share tonight. I just wanted you to have something to look forward to.”
I smiled at that. “I love you.”
“And I love you,” he grinned. And then, just as I was closing in to kiss him, his phone beeped.
Mike’s face broke into a wide grin. “They’re here!”
Marcus looked like a changed man as he drove us to the castle, his hand clasped at the center console, obviously holding Erik’s hand in his. There was a lightness to the man that I knew had to be from Erik’s presence alone, and I was glad to see it. I wished I could see Erik as well, but considering I’d never seen him before, I wouldn’t notice the difference anyway.
“How are you feeling, Dylan?” Marcus asked, looking at me through the mirror.
“Better, still sore when I sit for a long period, though,” I replied with a tense smile. The pain was starting to smart, but I was the onewho’d demanded we would get this over with today. I felt like we were stalling and the man and ghost in front of us needed to focus on each other and not on a bitchy ghost.
“Lie on me,” Mike offered, scooting closer to the door, patting his lap.
I wasn’t about to say no to that, so I maneuvered around in my seat, changing the seatbelt around me and laid my head on my man’s lap, sighing in contentment when I felt the pain lessen.
Once we arrived at the castle, we walked inside, Mike’s hand firmly gripping my wrist. My hands were too sore for me to hold his hand as we’d hoped, but we just needed skin to skin, so this would have to do. We remained firmly attached as we walked up the stairs to the attic. I hadn’t heard them speak with the castle ghosts, so I figured they weren’t around and that Marcus and Mike had decided not to bother them before they’d dealt with the one causing havoc.
“Erik will go ahead and check the room first. We need to be prepared for her to startle us again,” Marcus told us, mostly for my benefit.
I just nodded and watched Marcus frown before he pushed the door. “Fuck,” he growled. “Erik told us she’d barricaded the door,but I didn’t think she would be strong enough to actually block it completely.”
“Erik, can you tell us what she used to block the door? Then we can maybe guess how heavy it is, and how much force to use,” Mike said.
Marcus and Mike shared a look and nodded. “Then Mike and I will try to push it open,” Marcus announced and I felt guilty over not being able to help them. My hands ached as I followed Mike to the door, keeping my aching hands on his hips as he pushed the door inward with Marcus. It took a few minutes, but then it finally moved an inch, then another, then another, and once it was big enough for Marcus to squeeze through, he did, getting the dresser out of the way so Mike and I could join him.
The room was dimly lit and it was obvious she’d been busy while we were gone, using the time on her hands to effectively create a hazard of a room. I shivered when I spotted how neatly she’d placed the broken glass on the floors. She wanted to hurt us, that much was clear. I was glad she couldn’t touch us with Erik here.
“She’s not here, is she?” I asked, already dreading the answer.
“No,” Marcus answered, shaking his head. “Let’s see if we can spot anything while up here.”
“And get the glass cleaned up,” Mike muttered, already searching for a broom, dragging me along with him. I knew she wasn’t here, but I wouldn’t let Mike and I part for even a second. She was likely planning another sneak attack like last time.
Mike found an old broom and began sweeping the bits of glass off to the side with one hand, as awkward as it was, while his other held my wrist protectively.
“Wait,” I said, stalling him as I pointed to a large piece of glass. “There’s lettering on the back of this one.”
Marcus came over, kneeling next to the glass. “It’s a sentence, but we need the other pieces before I can read it.”
“Uh fun,” I drawled. “A dangerous puzzle piece, just what we needed.”
Mike and Marcus just laughed at my lack of enthusiasm and got to work flipping through the scattered glass, my hand resting on Mike’s arm as he worked, intent on never letting our connection waver.
Ten minutes later, we had an assortment of collected glass, all with writing on the back off it. “Are you sure this is related to the case?” I questioned, eyeing the scribble with a frown. It was definitely not English so I had no clue what it said.
Marcus shrugged and pointed to the vanity. “I think the mirror comes from that, and considering how the ghost is holed up in here, there must be something that ties her to this room.”
Mike perked up at that. “You think this is a cursed object case? Not just a random ghost who got left here?”
Marcus frowned. “You truly believe that a medium would consciously leave a ghost here?”
Mike seemed to deflate at that. “No, I guess not. It goes against everything we stand for.”