Charming Blue Read Online Free

organizational magic and nothing else. That little trick you’re doing with the image there? Way beyond my capacity.”
    “Actually, it’s outside your capacity,” Tank said. “Not beyond your capacity. You’re quite capable within the boundaries of your magic. How do you think you’ve managed in this tough environment all this time?”
    Jodi’s eyes widened. Tank had just given her a compliment. Tank never gave anyone compliments.
    “Why don’t you find him?” Jodi asked. “You have a powerful magic. You can figure out who he is and report him to the police.”
    “The Los Angeles Police Department?” Tank asked. “Seriously? If I could appear to them, which I can’t—”
    “Use your magic,” Jodi said. “You can come up with a plausible disguise.”
    “I don’t debase myself like that,” Tank said. “And even if I did, how do I make them catch a guy who can appear and disappear in various rooms? He’ll be as slippery as fog, and you know it.”
    “I can’t do anything,” Jodi said. “I can’t catch him.”
    Tank sighed and rolled her eyes. Then she leaned forward and almost fell off the chair. She caught herself deftly. If Jodi hadn’t been watching her so closely, she wouldn’t have seen the move at all.
    Tank was rarely clumsy. She really had to be upset.
    “You can figure out the basis of someone’s magic,” Tank said. “That’s how you get them into the right job or the right house or make them comfortable or whatever the hell it is you do. So figure out what his magic is. Because it doesn’t sound like any I’m familiar with.”
    Jodi picked up a pen and tapped it on the desk calendar she had scribbled all her appointments on. The thing was covered with circles and lines and crossed-out meetings.
    Tank didn’t look down at the calendar. She just kept staring at Jodi. Jodi had never seen Tank passionate about anything. Tank was an impish little fairy, a gadfly (almost literally), a troublemaker. But she didn’t seem to be making trouble here.
    “You’re lying to me, Tank. You don’t care about this stalker guy.”
    Tank straightened. She snapped her fingers and the artist’s sketch disappeared. The fairy dust holding it up fell to the floor like a cluster of tiny stars.
    “That’s right,” Tank said softly. “I care about Blue.”
    “Blue?” Jodi frowned.
    “Bluebeard.” Tank actually looked vulnerable. “He’s being unjustly accused.”
    “Bluebeard?” Jodi asked. “You’re kidding me, right?”
    “No,” Tank said. “I’m not. He didn’t do this. He’s not going after these women.”
    “So?” Jodi said. “Why should I care? He murdered his wives.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Of course I’m sure,” Jodi said. “Everyone knows it. It’s not one of those Grimm Brother lies.”
    “Centuries ago,” Tank said.
    Jodi’s mouth opened. She couldn’t believe Tank had just said that. “So?” Jodi said. “He killed people. I don’t care if it was yesterday or a million yesterdays ago. He’s not someone I want to help.”
    “So do it for me,” Tank said.
    Jodi dropped the pen. It rolled across the desktop and fell onto the floor. She didn’t bother to catch it. “For you?”
    Tank nodded, looking vulnerable. Tank never looked vulnerable.
    “Because you want to help Bluebeard?”
    Tank nodded again.
    “So you care about him? Really? You like him?”
    Tank bowed her head for a minute. Her body lost all of its tension, and her wings fell against her back.
    “Yeah,” she said. “I care about him.”
    “God,” Jodi said. “They said he could make anyone fall in love with him, but I didn’t believe it.”
    Tank straightened. “I am not in love with him.”
    “But,” Jodi said, undeterred, “he was a Charming once. One of those Prince Charmings, which means he has the power to charm.”
    “I am not in love with him,” Tank said.
    “And,” Jodi said, more to herself than to Tank, “he would’ve needed the power to charm to get the second