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Which of course made her laugh. “Don’t worry. I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

I buried my face in my hands. “Youcan’ttell anyone. You’re a ghost. No one else can hear you.”

“They can for the next few minutes, as long as I’m in this body.”

Awesome.

She zipped her pinched fingers across her lips. “Relax. I swear I’ll take your secret to the grave.”

Her promise might have been more reassuring if she weren’t already dead.

“Let’s just…” I rolled back my shoulders, trying to squeeze the tension out of them. “…figure out how to track down the missing kids. Ok?”

“No problem. It just so happens that I have an idea.”

“I trust this idea doesn’t involve possessing any more people,” I said warily.

She laughed. “Of course not, silly. We’re simply going to retrace Taya’s steps. That’s Violetta’s little sister, by the way.”

“The little sister you didn’t watch because there wereinterestingboys to stalk?”

“You totally get it! I knew it! We’re both the same, you and I.”

“Right,” I said, unenthusiastic. “So how are we going to retrace Taya’s steps if you didn’t see where she went?”

Nixi snorted. “Seriously, Savannah, have youalreadyforgotten that you have magic?”

“No, but I don’t know any tracking spells.”

“That’s no problem.” She grinned at me. “Because I’m going to teach you one.”

CHAPTER7

THE INVISIBILITY FLU

Igaped at the ghost in the girl’s body. “You can still perform that kind of magic? Even now that you’re…”

“Dead?” she inserted with a smile. “No need to be delicate about it. I’ve been dead for a very long time. But back before I was dead, I was a very powerful Dreamweaver. A prodigy! In fact, that was what got me into this situation in the first place. I was experimenting with astral projection, and I got overly ambitious. So one day, while my mind was busily surfing the astral plane, my body fell into the fireplace in my room.”

I gaped at her. “That’s awful.”

Nixi waved away my sympathy. “I didn’t feel a thing. I was out of my body when it happened, remember? Of course, by the time I made my way back to my body, there was no body left to return to. A shame. I died with so many magical projects left unfinished.” She shook herself. “No matter. That was a long time ago. What matters to you is all that magical knowledge still exists inside my mind.” She tapped her head. “I can’t perform it in this girl’s body; she doesn’t have the potential for those kinds of spells. If she did, we’d be done in a jiffy. But don’t worry. Youdohave the potential, Savannah. I can teach you exactly the spell you need to track Violetta’s sister. And then you can save the missing kids.”

She linked her hands with mine. “Now close your eyes.”

I did as she asked.

“Magic is energy,” she said. “It’s in the air, all around us. Magic is attracted to magic. It wants to connect to you, Savannah. You just have to reach out and touch it. You have to open your senses and let it in. Ok?”

“Ok. I’ll my best,” I replied.

“I want you to concentrate on Violetta’s energy,” she told me. “Feel how it slides over your skin.”

Violetta’s energy was soft and gentle, like a pool of feathers.

“Hear how it sings in your ears.”

Violetta’s energy was a quiet lullaby.