Charming Blue (30 page)

Jodi’s breath caught. Tank was right. The women had died away from Blue—away from anyone, if her experience was anything to go by. Alone, asleep, and vulnerable.

“That can’t be true,” Blue said. “I saw them die.”

“Magical memories, remember?” Tank asked. “You have images inserted into your brain of killing them. But you didn’t do it.”

Blue looked at Jodi. Something in his eyes pleaded with her. It was too much for him; he clearly didn’t understand it all.

“Brilliant,” Selda said to Tank. “I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s true. You can protect her best, Blue.”

Blue shook his head. Jodi put her hand on his arm.

“The curse wouldn’t have worked if you had been with them,” she said. “You would have known that you weren’t the one hurting them.”

His mouth was open slightly, the now-familiar frown between his eyes deeper than it had been before.

“What if I
am
hurting you?” he whispered.

“You’re not,” Tank said, ruining the moment. “Otherwise there wouldn’t be images of you doing something else at the time. I’ve known you a long time, Blue, and a technical wizard you’re not.”

His gaze didn’t leave Jodi’s. She could feel his fear. He didn’t trust himself, and why should he? Not after all of those years believing the worst.

Even if Tank’s idea was wrong, even if the curse could be activated with Blue in the room, it would still be better to be at his side than to leave him alone with his personal demons. Because he needed to see that the curse had nothing to do with him. Well, it had a lot to do with him, but he wasn’t the one harming people.

He needed real confirmation of that.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea,” Jodi said. “And since I can’t go into my house anyway, I need a place to kick off my shoes and relax. Your apartment is perfect for that.”

“You don’t have any clothes,” Blue said, clearly grappling for an excuse to keep her away.

“True enough,” Jodi said with a smile. “But that’s what stores are for.”

Then she turned to Selda, who was watching their interaction with something like disbelief. Or maybe it was disgust. Jodi couldn’t tell, and she didn’t want to tell.

“Can you do something to get these people to hurry?” Jodi asked. “Because we don’t have a lot of time here.”

Selda nodded. “I’ll do what I can. But magic does what it does.”’

“Then find someone to break the curse,” Tank said.

“I’m working on that too,” Selda said. The harsh expression left her face. She reached out to Blue almost, but not quite, touching his arm. “Keep her safe.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a bit of wonder. “You can bet everything that I will.”

Chapter 38

Yes, ma’am.
He had sounded so sincere.
You can bet
everything
that
I
will
. Keep Jodi safe. Him, Bluebeard. The first mass murderer of all time.

The first serial killer, in modern parlance.

Everyone else believed he was cursed. He did too, intellectually. But now Jodi was gambling her life on it, and he didn’t want that.

He didn’t know how to get out of it, though.

He thought about ways to get out of it the entire time that Jodi drove him around Larchmont Village, stopping frequently to dash in and out of boutiques. First, she picked up shoes, which surprised him. Stores he had gone into barefoot (and drunk) had always used the lack of shoes to kick him out.

Mostly, though, she picked up clothes that were on hold for her, or things in her size that she passed on the way to the checkout. The sales associates all seemed to know her and seemed to be prepared for her arrival.

It wasn’t until Jodi hit the third store that Blue realized this was how she always shopped: the associates held clothing for her until her next arrival, and then she sorted through it.

Each stop in each store lasted no longer than ten minutes.

Still, he was flagging by the time she ordered two take-out pizzas at a pizzeria with one of those “Best in LA” stickers on its window. He expected something foo-foo, but the pies in their cardboard boxes smelled of tomato and mozzarella and garlic.

His stomach growled. He was hungry, and he hadn’t realized it. He had been thinking too hard, still trying to find a way to stay away from her and yet keep her safe.

He intellectually believed that Tank’s conclusion was the correct one: No one would hurt Jodi while she was with him. But he had thought of himself as a monster for so long—untrustworthy, difficult—that he worried he
would
be the one to hurt her.

The back of the convertible was filled with shopping bags, pizza, and some real food from a trendy deli, so that they would have breakfast and lunch for the next day, or so Jodi said.

She seemed to be in her element, shopping and organizing, as if nothing had happened to her at all.

Maybe that was how she coped. But it seemed strange to him. He was still shaken by the strange scene at her house. And then he felt guilty as they pulled up at the apartment complex, parking next to Marilyn’s blue convertible.

It surprised him that the motley little group had returned to the complex. He wondered when they had done that. He wondered if they had waited for him at Jodi’s house.

“I should have told them I was leaving,” Blue said.

Jodi smiled at him. “I took care of it,” she said.

She gave him the pizzas and the bags from the deli. She carried her clothing bags, looking lost beneath the piles of stuff.

Somehow she had managed to drive all over one section of Los Angeles, get food, get clothing, and get takeout all in the space of an hour. That had to have something to do with her magic, because he didn’t believe it possible without magic.

Even though she had keys, she let him flounder for his in front of the apartment. He set the food bags down, adjusted the pizza boxes, and reached into his pocket—as the door opened.

He let out a yelp. A young man with black curls stood there. He wore a shiny silver suit and, unless Blue missed his guess, eyeliner. (What did they call that? Guyliner? Blue had never ever seen it before. At least not up close. It was hard to avoid such things in LA, after all.)

“Who the hell are you?” Blue snapped, not sounding as fierce as he wanted to. At least he hadn’t tossed the pizza boxes into the air in surprise. He probably should set them down, however.

Although, the man with the guyliner didn’t look that threatening. In fact, Blue had a hunch he could take the guy with a single shove backward.

“I could ask the same of you, except that I know who you are,” the man said. “You’re our new tenant, Mr. Franklin.”

Then, as Blue was processing “our new tenant,” trying to figure out if this guy was part of the rental staff, and if Blue had actually met him and didn’t remember (how could he forget someone like this?), the guy looked over Blue’s shoulder at Jodi and mouthed
Pretty
.

Blue frowned. What the hell?

Jodi laughed, which surprised Blue, and said, “Stop it, Ramon. Help us with these packages, would you?”

Ramon? The Ramon of the organized papers and the purple pen? Somehow that made sense.

Ramon took the bags off the stoop and carried them into the kitchen, putting everything away without being asked.

Blue set the pizza boxes down on the kitchen table, and immediately Ramon moved them to the kitchen counter, taking down plates (who ate pizza with plates?) and pulling out a bottled water.

Jodi brought her own shopping bags inside and carried them into the bedroom, without asking, making Blue’s stomach clench. He hadn’t figured on her sleeping in there. In fact, he hadn’t thought of the sleeping arrangements at all. The couch didn’t look long enough for him.

“I see you brought some clothes,” Jodi said, and Blue’s frown deepened. Of course he had. She had seen his leather bag. He’d dutifully hung up his belongings at the beginning of his long afternoon, and that had taken all of five minutes.

“I figured you’d need something to wear since they’ve closed you out of the house,” Ramon said from the kitchen. “I didn’t expect you to clean out Rodeo Drive.”

Jodi laughed. “I didn’t go to Rodeo.”

Blue let out a small sigh. Jodi had been talking to Ramon, not to Blue. She had used that same familiar tone she used with him. So this was how she treated her friends. Then Blue shook his head slightly. He didn’t consider himself a friend.

How she treated people she liked, then. That was how she treated people she liked. And even that thought boggled his mind.

Ramon came into the living room, handed Blue a cold bottle of water, and kept one for himself. Blue felt overrun, and self-conscious, and nervous.

What was he supposed to do? He actually had to fall back on advice from Dr. Hargrove. When in doubt, remember your manners.

“I’m sorry,” Blue said, extending his right hand. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m John Franklin, but my friends call me Blue.”

Ramon took his hand and didn’t shake it. Instead he held it lightly, his eyes twinkling. “I can see why they call you Blue. Those eyes of yours are something. Aren’t they something, Jodi?”

“He’s not your type, Ramon,” Jodi said from the bedroom.

“Why don’t you let him tell me that,” Ramon said. Then, softer to Blue, “Please don’t tell me that.”

No one had flirted this outrageously with Blue in years.

“Sorry,” Blue said again, glancing at the bedroom, not sure why he was continually apologizing to this man. “I’m afraid that’s true.”

“Ah,” Ramon said like a man used to rejection. Then he turned his head, looked at Blue out of the corner of his eye, and dramatically turned his head toward the bedroom. His lips pursed just a little, and he said, “Oh.
Really
?”

Blue blushed. He hadn’t blushed in years. He couldn’t remember the last time. He hadn’t meant to reveal his interest in Jodi. He didn’t have a right to be interested in Jodi. He didn’t have a right to be interested in anyone.

Ramon looked pointedly at the bedroom again, then leaned toward Blue. Ramon still hadn’t let go of Blue’s hand.

“Our Jodes,” Ramon said in a tone so soft that Jodi couldn’t hear, “is terribly picky. So if she gives you trouble, you tell her to talk to me. I won’t change her mind, but I will step in on any missed date. I don’t mind expensive food and a chance to dress up.”

Blue laughed in spite of himself. Ramon patted their clenched hands with his free hand, then let go.

“Seriously,” Ramon said, losing the air of flirtatiousness. “I’m a matchmaker from way back and a firm believer in true love. If you’re right for Jodi, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure the magic happens.”

Blue clutched the cool bottle of water like a lifeline. This conversation made no sense to him. He didn’t know what, if anything, led Ramon to that true love assumption. Maybe it was just Ramon’s own attraction to Blue. Maybe it was the way Ramon always spoke to the men in Jodi’s life.

“What are you doing?” Jodi said as she came out of the bedroom. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a light green top. Her feet were bare again, but her toenails were painted a glittery silver. She looked better than she had all day.

“I’m telling Blue how available you are,” Ramon said.

Jodi rolled her eyes. “Ramon believes that I should find a nice man and settle down. Maybe then I won’t work him as hard.”

“I do
not
,” Ramon said. “I don’t like how lonely you are, that’s all. And you shouldn’t let this man go. He’s a Greek god.”

“Actually, I’m not,” Blue said with more seriousness than he had planned.

“Oh, that’s right,” Ramon said, waving a hand. “I would see sparkles of weird magic if you were. Although I am seeing magic sparkles, aren’t I, Jodi?”

Blue swallowed hard. He had no sense that Ramon was one of the magical, so this conversation had taken an even odder turn.

“You are,” Jodi said. “Blue has charm magic, which is why you think he’s perfect for me.”

“Ooooh,” Ramon said, raising his eyebrows in mock surprise. “You’re one of the Prince Charmings. How marvelous. I’ve met Cinderella’s, you know. He has a bookstore in Westwood.”

“I know,” Blue said, not willing to say any more.

“So,” Ramon said, “which one are you?”

Blue gave him a tight smile, hoping the man wouldn’t push anymore. “I’m one of the insignificant ones.”

“Really?” Ramon said. “There are insignificant Prince Charmings?”

“Ramon,” Jodi said, sliding her arm through his, much as she had done with Blue earlier. “I appreciate the clothes, but what are you doing here, besides mooching our pizza?”

“To mooch, my friend, means we must eat.” Ramon put a hand over hers and walked into the kitchen. Blue followed, feeling like the odd man out. “So you get the food, and I will tell you all of my little secrets.”