We all changed our clothes, with just a thought, so that we too were dressed in black ninja clothes, and then I pulled the hood up over my translucent silvery hair. After that, we all left the silent, sterile office and headed down the corridor toward the spirit castle with eavesdropping on our minds.
Even before we arrived in the foyer, we could hear the raucous laughter from the Blood mages.
Those bastards were living in my grandfather’s house!
“Kill them all,” a male voice snarled.
A cheer rose up from the rest of them, loud enough to know there were more than a few in there. And then a female cried, “We’ll drink their blood—”
“And live forever!” another bellowed.
Wait. Wait.What?I mouthed to Zia.
She shook her head and mouthed,Later.
Who were they talking about killing! Us?
We huddled just inside the hallway that led to the foyer where our death party was being discussed. I couldn’t hear them well, which I suspected meant they were moving away from us, possibly toward the kitchen.
I looked at Than—the real one. The only reason I knew it was the real him was because he’d pulled his mask down and didn’t have a zombie look on his face.
Ready?I mouthed at him.
He gave me a thumbs-up, and I crept closer, wanting to hear more. If the blood mages saw me, Than and his boys would hopefully distract them from blasting me with magic or whatever they might be able to do.
I crept along the foyer entrance and down the hall, following the blood mage voices, which were growing louder once more.
“Queen Banpiroa won’t be at full strength until she’s fully fed,” a female said.
“I don’t understand why she won’t just drink from one of the captives—”
“They’re too weak, you fool. It will deaden her power,” the female snapped. “She needs one of the high mages.”
Fear wormed through my entire ghostly body at that declaration, and I peered into the kitchen.
The moment I made eye contact with her, a woman with long black hair and pale skin snapped her head up to look at me.
“Spirit,” she shouted.
Oops.
The female blood mage held a spirit crystal tightly in her palm as she sat at the breakfast table with three other blood mages. It seemed like only she could see me, which made some sense as only she held a crystal.
Okay. So they definitely knew how to use those spirit crystals.
Good to know.
Without another word, most of the Than copies burst into the kitchen, running in circles around the table as the woman watched them with wide eyes.
“Who? Where?” the others asked, looking around in fear.
“They’re … ninja spirits!” the blood mage holding the crystal breathed.
The other blood mages scowled at their friend. “I thought you were serious.”
“I AM! There’s a dozen ninja ghosts in this kitchen!” she shrieked.
Time to scram.
