I wiped my eyes and nodded with fake confidence. “I want to see this through properly.”
Dylan’s eyes swam with emotion, but he just nodded and respected my decision. I rose from where I’d landed—on the thankfully glass free floor—while holding Dylan’s wrist and walked with them downstairs.
Fritz was smiling widely as we walked into the library, sitting comfortably in his leather chair with a book open in front of him. “You succeeded!”
If he noticed my red eyes, he didn’t comment, focusing on the fact we’d managed to banish her instead.
“We did,” Marcus confirmed. “But it has left us feeling rather drained, so we’re off in a few. We just wanted to share the good news before we left.” That had been a polite way to explain what had happened to me, but I was glad Marcus didn’t tell Fritz any details.
“Understandable,” he nodded with a soft smile. “I cannot thank you enough for what you’ve done. But thank you. You do not have to check in with Hanne before you leave.” He rose from his chair. “I will meet up with her and tell her the good news.”
“We appreciate that,” Dylan smiled politely.
“I wish you all the best.” Then Fritz was floating through the floor, heading to Hanne.
Marcus turned to face me and Dylan. “Let’s get out of here.”
Back at the hotel I all but fell on the bed, my drained body shutting down immediately. When I woke up, Dylan had removed my clothes and draped the cover over my body. I instantly felt guilty all over again. His poor hands must’ve struggled removing my clothes, but he’d suffered through it because he wanted to make me comfortable. And he’d yet to truly understand what had happened. I doubted even Rino knew. Dylan deserved to know, and yet, he hadn’t prodded on the drive back to the hotel. We’d all just sat in silence, each of us tired and glad to have the case closed successfully. Because I still wanted to say a proper goodbye to Erik, we’d planned to meet up tomorrow and I looked forward to it.
I sat up in bed as Dylan came back into the room, hands full of takeout bags, the scent wafting from them so enticing that my stomach growled in anticipation.
He chuckled and handed me the first bag. “I found a Thai place just around the corner. I figured we could go out to eat some traditional food tomorrow when we were both up for it.”
“You truly do love me,” I sighed dreamily, looking through the offered bag and securing the Pad Thai I craved. “You even got me extra peanut sauce.”
“Anything for my sweetheart,” he winked, then sat down next to me, his own dish in hand. Knowing him, it was likely something with oyster sauce and roasted cashews, perhaps with chicken and some beans mixed in, too. I would need to taste his as well because it smelled divine.
“After we’ve eaten, I’ll tell you what happened,” I promised, already dreading it, but it needed to be talked about.
He simply nodded. “Rino called while I was waiting for the food. The mediums who’d given up the case are all meeting tomorrow at the medium headquarters here. Rino wants us to attend and tell them how we managed to get her banished successfully.”
I let out a groan. “They’ll all hate us for it.”
He laughed. “Rino said the same thing. But luckily for us, we’ll have Marcus and Erik there too.”
“True. I just hate to face more experienced mediums and lecture them on what to do.”
His warm hand brushed my cheek in a soft gentle caress. “We don’t have to linger if they’re nasty about it, but maybe they’ll be thankful to learn how we did it. You would be eager to learn more from others, they could very well feel the same way.”
Letting out a deep sigh, I smiled at him. “I hope you’re right.”
Dylan wasn’t right, or half-right, as one of the mediums had sneered at Marcus as soon as we walked into the meeting room, demanding to know why a medium would have a ghost tagging along. According to her, that was abusing his power as a medium and something to be ashamed of. It seemed working with ghosts wasfrowned upon here, but it was because of Erik we’d managed to do what they’d failed at.
“Ashamed?!” Marcus snapped, Erik looking just as pissed next to him.
“Yes, ashamed!” she snapped back. “Don’t you have any morals?”
“Kimmie!” one of the men behind her scolded. “They haven’t even introduced themselves before you’re harassing them. Let them at least say hi before you voice your opinions.”
I liked the man already.
“I’m Mike,” I started with an awkward wave. “And this is my anchor, Dylan.” I pointed to Marcus next. “This is Marcus and his fiancé Erik.” I wasn’t about to keep their relationship a secret for these people, and it was pretty obvious with their hands clasped together. If Kimmie had more issues we’d better get all the information out of the way at once. We were here for their benefit and not our own. I had no qualms about turning around and leaving.
The man who’d snapped at Kimmie stood and offered us his hand. “My name is Carsten and this is Thor.” He pointed at Kimmie. “You’ve already met Kimmie and this lady to our right is Elise. Niels is still in the hospital.”
“Nice to meet you,” Dylan said with a polite smile. “We weren’t told much other than to show up here today.”
“Neither were we,” Carsten shrugged. “But our boss is joining us in a few to give us more information.”
