another verbal put-down. Instead, it was a command. Tank clearly didn’t want to fly. Maybe she couldn’t. She had put out a great deal of effort this evening.
Jodi complied, taking a few more steps toward the door. Tank tossed more fairy dust and got two more images of Bluebeard walking away. Theoretically.
“Again,” Tank said.
Jodi walked around the images into the hallway. Tank tossed more fairy dust. This time it caught the edge of the previous image, but nothing else.
“Should I keep going?” Jodi asked.
“One more,” Tank said.
Jodi took a few more steps. Tank tossed one more handful of fairy dust, but it, too, failed to catch anything. It just fell to the floor like sparks from a Fourth of July sparkler.
“So he did vanish,” Jodi said, feeling a little ridiculous. The entire time she had stood on the patio, shivering and lying to herself that it was because of the cold, she had been hiding from no one.
“Appeared and disappeared,” Tank said thoughtfully. “You didn’t see him arrive, did you?”
“I was asleep.”
“And what did he say to wake you up?” Tank asked.
“He didn’t say anything. It was the amber light.”
“You didn’t tell me about the amber light,” Tank said.
“I know,” Jodi said. “I forgot until we were inside, and then you were talking about the image, and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise—”
“Don’t make this my fault,” Tank said.
“I’m not,” Jodi said. “So you think it’s a curse.”
“An elaborate one,” Tank said. “And you activated it.”
“ I did?” Jodi said. “How could I have activated it?”
“Something happened between you and Blue, something that started the whole damn process up again.” Tank stood up, her little feet pressing hard on a nerve on the top of Jodi’s shoulder. “Boy, are we in trouble.”
“You will be if you don’t move your feet,” Jodi said.
“My feet? What’s wrong with my feet?”
“You have sharp little pointy feet, and they dig into the wrong places,” Jodi said. “So let’s move away from nerve endings, shall we?”
“Like that’s possible,” Tank said. “Where to, Your Highness?”
Jodi extended her hand palm side up. “Stand here.”
“I’m sure there’s nerve endings on that big fat palm of yours.” It felt like Tank was digging her feet in harder.
“But they’re not on the surface, because, as you pointed out, my palm is fat.”
“Touché,” Tank said as she flew down to Jodi’s palm. She landed hard, almost like she was trying to find the nerve endings. “Sharp little pointy feet. That’s the first time I’ve heard that accusation.”
“How often do you stand on people?” Jodi asked.
“Not often enough it seems,” Tank said. She sounded distracted. Indeed, she had her hands on her hips with her wings folded against her back. She was staring at all of those fairy dust images. Echoes of Bluebeard in different poses, like fading statues in a holographic museum.
“I’m still confused,” Jodi said. “The wards should have protected me against Bluebeard.”
“They did,” Tank said, still staring at the images.
“They did not,” Jodi said. “His curse got in here.”
“No,” Tank said. “The curse has nothing to do with him.”
“Really?” Jodi said. “Because there he is in my bedroom, smiling at me.”
“He’s not here, and no part of him is here,” Tank said.
“His curse is here.”
“That’s right,” Tank said. “ The curse is here. It’s not Blue’s spell, it’s not a spell Blue created. Blue had nothing to do with the curse. Someone else created the curse and placed it on Blue.”
“I’m not sure I entirely understand the difference,” Jodi said.
“That’s because you’re one of the good guys,” Tank said. “You’ve probably never cursed someone in your entire life.”
She was heavier than Jodi expected, and awkward as well. Jodi’s arm was feeling the strain of keeping her hand palm-side up so that
Jodi complied, taking a few more steps toward the door. Tank tossed more fairy dust and got two more images of Bluebeard walking away. Theoretically.
“Again,” Tank said.
Jodi walked around the images into the hallway. Tank tossed more fairy dust. This time it caught the edge of the previous image, but nothing else.
“Should I keep going?” Jodi asked.
“One more,” Tank said.
Jodi took a few more steps. Tank tossed one more handful of fairy dust, but it, too, failed to catch anything. It just fell to the floor like sparks from a Fourth of July sparkler.
“So he did vanish,” Jodi said, feeling a little ridiculous. The entire time she had stood on the patio, shivering and lying to herself that it was because of the cold, she had been hiding from no one.
“Appeared and disappeared,” Tank said thoughtfully. “You didn’t see him arrive, did you?”
“I was asleep.”
“And what did he say to wake you up?” Tank asked.
“He didn’t say anything. It was the amber light.”
“You didn’t tell me about the amber light,” Tank said.
“I know,” Jodi said. “I forgot until we were inside, and then you were talking about the image, and I couldn’t get a word in edgewise—”
“Don’t make this my fault,” Tank said.
“I’m not,” Jodi said. “So you think it’s a curse.”
“An elaborate one,” Tank said. “And you activated it.”
“ I did?” Jodi said. “How could I have activated it?”
“Something happened between you and Blue, something that started the whole damn process up again.” Tank stood up, her little feet pressing hard on a nerve on the top of Jodi’s shoulder. “Boy, are we in trouble.”
“You will be if you don’t move your feet,” Jodi said.
“My feet? What’s wrong with my feet?”
“You have sharp little pointy feet, and they dig into the wrong places,” Jodi said. “So let’s move away from nerve endings, shall we?”
“Like that’s possible,” Tank said. “Where to, Your Highness?”
Jodi extended her hand palm side up. “Stand here.”
“I’m sure there’s nerve endings on that big fat palm of yours.” It felt like Tank was digging her feet in harder.
“But they’re not on the surface, because, as you pointed out, my palm is fat.”
“Touché,” Tank said as she flew down to Jodi’s palm. She landed hard, almost like she was trying to find the nerve endings. “Sharp little pointy feet. That’s the first time I’ve heard that accusation.”
“How often do you stand on people?” Jodi asked.
“Not often enough it seems,” Tank said. She sounded distracted. Indeed, she had her hands on her hips with her wings folded against her back. She was staring at all of those fairy dust images. Echoes of Bluebeard in different poses, like fading statues in a holographic museum.
“I’m still confused,” Jodi said. “The wards should have protected me against Bluebeard.”
“They did,” Tank said, still staring at the images.
“They did not,” Jodi said. “His curse got in here.”
“No,” Tank said. “The curse has nothing to do with him.”
“Really?” Jodi said. “Because there he is in my bedroom, smiling at me.”
“He’s not here, and no part of him is here,” Tank said.
“His curse is here.”
“That’s right,” Tank said. “ The curse is here. It’s not Blue’s spell, it’s not a spell Blue created. Blue had nothing to do with the curse. Someone else created the curse and placed it on Blue.”
“I’m not sure I entirely understand the difference,” Jodi said.
“That’s because you’re one of the good guys,” Tank said. “You’ve probably never cursed someone in your entire life.”
She was heavier than Jodi expected, and awkward as well. Jodi’s arm was feeling the strain of keeping her hand palm-side up so that
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