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“I literally have no clue,” Carmen practically squealed. “But I’m pretty sure I’m going to win at least a couple of awards for livestreaming actual proof of life after death.”

The excitement practically vibrated off her, so Meredith reached for her arm, pointing out, “Yeah, but that proof means there are literally ghosts around us, right now, in this creepy basement.”

“I’ve got to call my boss,” Carmen replied, disinterested in the danger with dollar signs shining way too bright in her eyes. “I’m a single mom—do you have any idea what this video is going to do for my family? This is the best night ever.”

She bounded back up the stairs, leaving the competitors in a loose square looking at one another. “Scary ghost,” Meredith pointed out again, in case any of them missed it on the first explanation of events. “We just totally got video of a scary ghost in this house. Are you going to stay?”

“I’m going to be really honest,” said Bodie, leaning back against the nearest pile.

It wobbled precariously but then seemed to find enough balance to support his weight.

“I felt like I lost my spark. I haven’t done the hands-on work of a remodel for ages; instead, being in charge of giving other people directions to follow.

My fame got too big. Why do the actual work if I could command an army, right?

I hoped that this competition would bring back my love of the work.

I got into remodeling because I loved the thrift, loved the adventure of seeing how a project went from ugly as hell to something beautiful… ”

He tapered off, staring nostalgically at what looked like a milk crate full of soggy Reader’s Digests.

“I want that again, if you get me. Somewhere along the way, I got lost in the image of some character I played, so as to your question, no, I’m not scared of a ghost. In fact, it’s one of the most interesting things I can think of happening, if I’m entirely honest with all of you. ”

Meredith blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m not afraid of ghosts, either,” she confessed. “I want the house more than I care about it either way.”

“I’m totally cool with pretending to be terrified and— ahhh!— run out of here squealing,” added Jimothy, and for the first time, the slight gay flip of his wrist and tone of voice when he pretended to scream made her wonder if he wasn’t straight. “This place stinks . Let’s bounce.”

“We’re seeing it through,” replied Jeremiah, his tone stern as he glared at his brother. “Our ratings and numbers have been down, and you know it. Ghosts? We’re going to get a ton of hits off this, and then our merch will sell, and that means security. Who walks away from guaranteed security?”

Meredith couldn’t argue with his logic, even if it really made it inconvenient if none of them would run home scared. “So, what you’re saying is we’re still all in this together?”

“Sounds like it,” Bodie said, clapping a friendly hand on Jimothy’s shoulder. “Though if I’m honest, you didn’t really give scared with the squealing.”

“Fair,” Jimothy said with a shrug. “I’ve seen weirder. Have you been to Iowa?” he asked, leading the way up the stairs.

Nothing else disturbed their sleep, or at least nothing else managed to wake Meredith past the combination of alcohol and exhaustion.

When she stretched in the morning, she disrupted Gary, who basically slept on top of her to avoid touching any of the debris to either side of the bed.

“Thanks for guarding me from the things that went bump in the night,” she said to the cat familiar.

His jaw popped with a yawn. “You’re cute, witch. Unless it crawled on us, I was out, too. Do you think any more ghosts serenaded in the basement about killing their mothers like Norman Bates last night?”

She nudged him off her chest with an elbow. “It wasn’t that scary of a ghost,” she pointed out.

“That was totally terrifying,” argued the cat.

“Bet your ass you’ve gotten a ton of hits and probably at least a couple of brand deal offers.

Whether it is people who want you to wear their clothes while you’re here or people who want you to eat their weight loss gummies, you’re about to make bank from your influencer status. ”

“You’re kidding,” she said, but her throat went a little dry while she searched her name on the internet.

“ Twice yesterday you caught evidence of the paranormal. Either this show has a way better sfx budget than I heard about or you’re about to make soooooo much money,” the cat proclaimed, nodding as if it was a sure thing.

He wasn’t wrong about one thing, though.

Her email overflowed with offers—some legitimate businesses treating her with respect and others total scams. She looked at one which offered to use her art as inspiration for a special piece for a commission and hit it with the spam filter.

“That wasn’t part of my plan,” she pointed out to the cat.

“More attention means they’re more likely to pour more money into more cameras, so they don’t miss a second of the action. ”

“Well, yeah,” the cat agreed with an impressive eye roll.

“I can’t use my magic if they have a camera filming me,” she pointed out, wiggling her wand to make a box full of garbage vanish in a pop. “I have to literally do all of the work yesterday the old-fashioned way—with muscle and sweat.”

The cat started laughing before she finished. When she did, he gasped for air enough to say, “Sounds like fuck around and find out, if I’m entirely honest. After all, you wanted a free house, and don’t they always say there’s no such thing as a free lunch?”

She flicked off the cat, as she entered the kitchen area, or where she hoped there might be a kitchen area.

She could find a faucet, buried between two towering piles near what she figured might be another window, once they cleared the stuff in front of it.

The sink was full of moldy dishes, though.

“We can’t even make coffee here,” she pointed out. “Not at this point. We’re utterly reliant on the filming company until we get this room gutted.”

“I’m not really worried about that,” Bodie said, entering the kitchen from another pathway.

He wiggled his cell phone at her with a beaming smile stretched across his face.

“Have you seen these numbers? We’re so golden.

I swear, we could probably get away with not even renovating this place, we could just ghost hunt and make a ton. ”

“I couldn’t live in this for that long,” pointed out Jimothy entering from another pathway. “My car is outside, if we can’t find staff. I’ll get breakfast. C’mon.”

Meredith shrugged at Bodie and followed him as Jeremiah appeared, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “Good morning, team!” he chirped cheerfully.

Meredith scowled at him. She could do a lot, but she couldn’t fake happy before coffee.

In the driveway, the tiny little car reminded Meredith oddly of a cheerfully happy clown car. It had a tall top, so Jimothy easily slid behind the wheel as his brother slid into the passenger side. The mint green threw her off a little, but she had to admit—cute car.

“Do you even know where we find breakfast in this little town?” asked Bodie as he slid in next to her and buckled his seatbelt. “Or do you want me to try to navigate with my phone?”

“We’re actually about five minutes away from the house,” admitted Jeremiah.

“Which is why we heard it was haunted and probably had a much better idea what we were signing on for,” added Jimothy. “I’ll admit that with no cameras in the car.”

“Agreed,” said Jeremiah. “So why have you been trying to back out, considering we planned this for like two years?”

Jimothy sighed, shooting his brother a glance before meeting Meredith’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

She wasn’t sure why, but she thought he looked to her for support or maybe understanding.

“We didn’t sign up to work on a hoarder house,” he pointed out.

“I’m pretty sure this place is hazardous to our health, physically, not to mention the obvious ghost situation. ”

“This is a huge opportunity,” his brother began.

“Back up,” Bodie interrupted. “When you said you guys knew about the house, and the ghost situation, are you telling me you could tell us about the ghosts we saw and anything else that might be waiting in that house?”

Jimothy sighed and Jeremiah pointed, so he turned into a gravel driveway and into a parking spot. “We’ll tell you everything we know. Level the playing field, so to speak.”

“Good deal,” Bodie said.

Meredith didn’t say anything at all. She would love it if they all confessed tons, but no way was she telling them her secret…

A witch isn’t that stupid.