Charlotte saw her friend's eyes widen upon seeing the way Jared's lip curled.
"Don't tell me you also—-"
"I've always thought he was a pretentious little prick," Jared said grimly.
Addison shook her head again. "I can't believe I was the only one who didn't see the changes in him."
"You had a lucky escape," Charlotte said firmly.
"I guess..." Addison forced a smile. "Anyway, enough about me. I almost forgot to tell you that I bumped into Lukas yesterday."
Charlotte frowned. "Lukas as in...Lukas Tsaldaris?"
"None other," Addison confirmed with a noticeably sly smile. "He asked for your number, and I gave it."
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I strongly doubt it's what you think."
"Oh, so it did occur to you then."
"Because it is written all over your face," Charlotte retorted. "And I'm telling you, it's not what you think. He probably just wants my help via Heart's Match. That's the only reason people are asking for my number these days."
"If he does, maybe it's because he wants to marry...you."
Charlotte groaned, but this only made her friend laugh.
"Oh, c'mon. Char. Everyone in school knew he had the hots for you. The only reason he never made a move was because everyone also knew you were head over heels for Landon."
"I still am," Charlotte said simply, "and I always will be."
"We'll see. Lukas has only gotten way, way hotter over the years, you know."
Charlotte noticed Jared frowning at the way Addison described the other man. Hm. There seemed to be something there—-
Chapter Six
"Charles?"
Hearing Sano's voice yanked Charlotte out of her memories, and when she looked around, she realized that Sano had taken her into what seemed like the lounge's powder room. Was this where they were supposed to talk in private then? And was this really going to be about Lukas?
Charlotte cleared her throat. "About Luk—-"
Oh.
Sano had dropped his phone into her hands without warning, and she stared down at it blankly. Someone was calling him, and Charlotte almost had a heart attack upon seeing the name that showed up on his screen.
Cass.
There was only one woman named Cass that she could think of, and all thoughts of Lukas and company fled her mind as anxiety started pooling in her stomach.
"Julian texted me last night," Sano said under his breath. "I've never met or spoken to him as Sano, but Cass got him to call me because of her vision."
Charlotte's unease mounted. Before marrying Prince Julian of Ethereal, Cass used to be an island girl who read fortunes as Mademoiselle C, and her visions of the future always came true.
Always.
The princess' ability to see the future was a closely-guarded secret, and the only reason Charlotte knew about it was because her husband had been assigned to tail the couple during their first visit in America. His then-superior had wanted Land to spy on the two, but instead Land, and later on Charlotte, ended up becoming fast friends with the royal couple.
"They know who I am. Who I was. But more importantly..."
The grim set of Sano's jaw made Charlotte antsy.
"They called last night because they wanted me to know Cass had a vision about you."
That was exactly what Charlotte was afraid of, and fear skittered down her spine when the phone in her hand started vibrating again. It was the princess, calling her for the second time, and she couldn't shake off the feeling that whatever Cass had to say wasn't anything good.
"Cass was insistent that it should be my choice on whether to tell you or not about her vision, and if I did tell you, then it should also be your choice whether you wished to hear from her or not."
Charlotte was torn. The cowardly part of her didn't want to know about the future, but wasn't she only making it worse for herself if she insisted on keeping her head buried in the sand? If there was something that might prevent her and Sano from being together, wouldn't it be better for her to know about it in advance?
She took a deep breath...and then she took another when one huge gulp of oxygen didn't prove enough. There was just something about this whole vision thing that made her want to have temporary amnesia like Cha-Cha, but—-
You need to be brave, Charlotte Carmichaels!
If this was what it took to protect her future with Landon, who was now Sano, then—-
"Wait."
Sano reached for her hand just as she was about to answer the princess' call, and Charlotte stilled. Riiiight. Ethereal's royal family had protocols every time Cass had a vision to speak of, and one of it was that all such conversations could only be between the princess and the subject of her vision.
"Will you be alright if I leave you alone?"
Charlotte nodded.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"No." And this wasn't a lie. "I don't want to," Charlotte heard herself say, "but I think I need to."