A Farewell to Charms (16 page)

No wonder Floressa wanted me there as someone else. She probably needed help coping with this huge change and knew I would understand, because I was there when Gina and the king reunited. “I can’t believe they’re getting married. Last time I was there, he wouldn’t even talk to her.”

“Hey, you weren’t speaking to me a couple of weeks ago, either.” He coughed. “Look, we have to go. We can discuss this more when we get there. I’ll feel out the Caprice situation and contact you as soon as I have something.” Reed finally pushed a button, and his manual seemed to sigh in relief as his red bubble dripped out.

“But we’re not ready for full execution yet!” I stomped my foot in the snow. “I was going to try to research Façade’s history some more, see if it said anything about returning stolen magic. And maybe we could get you into Façade somehow, or there are clues at Specter, or—”

“It’s not like there’s a secret box holding all of Façade’s secrets. We’ll see if the opportunity is right. If not…we try again later. For now, though, we need a code word so we can check that we’re talking to each other and not the real royal. What do you want?”

I thought about suggesting, “Here’s looking at you kid,” from the movie
Casablanca
, because that’s what Karl said to me way back when I subbed for Elsa, and it’s what Reed said to me right before opening night. It was the expression that made me think Reed was Karl. But no, he was Barrett. Just a coincidence, and not something I cared to bring up again.

“I don’t care.”

He glanced around at the trees. “How about evergreen?”

“Are you kidding?”

“It’s not a word you use every day. You have something better?”

“No. Evergreen. Fine.” I couldn’t be sure, but the red in Reed’s bubble seemed to be getting angrier. I pushed the button on my own manual and my yellow bubble zipped out.

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

“Do you have the vial with you?” he asked.

I held up my clutch. “Always. I keep it with my Rouge and manual.”

“Good. We’ll figure out how to get to Caprice.” Reed lowered his voice. “And can you promise me something else?”

He looked adorable in the dim twilight, his forehead creased in worry and concern. A white dress shirt and tie were just visible under his red parka. I started to feel the bigness of this moment—after he moved, we might only get to see each other when subbing for other people. And under different circumstances, being alone in a grove of trees with twinkling lights…it might be romantic. Maybe he felt that too, maybe he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend. An oath to each other before our dangerous voyage. I reminded myself to keep breathing. “Yeah? What is it?”

He took my hand and gazed down at me intently. “If you get back way before me and start doing last-minute decorations, don’t go overboard on the tinsel.”

Dork. I pushed him into his bubble and laughed at myself. He may be mature for his age, but he’s still an oblivious boy.

And my hand still buzzed from his touch.

I had one foot in my bubble when I heard a crack. I whirled around to see Kylee’s mouth wide open, a box of candy canes in her hand. She couldn’t see the bubble—only those with MP can see the bubble—so I pointed up at a tree and yelled, “Look!”

I would get home less than a second later. So would Reed. We would make up a quick excuse if we were standing somewhere different or looked a little different, and Kylee would believe us, just like she did with the manual, because a logical explanation made much more sense than the truth.

I used her shift in focus to rush inside. But there was this quick second before my view went from the forest to the interior of the bubble that I saw Kylee look back at me. I would have thought she’d just seen me disappear into the air, but a word formed on her lips.

“Bubble.”

“W
elcome, Desi. Destination: Hollywood Hills, California. Please make yourself comfortable.”

“Thanks, Daisy,” I mumbled. I curled up into my swivel chair and tried to ignore the stress headache. There was no way Kylee saw the bubble. No way. Meredith and I once popped into the middle of a busy casino in Las Vegas, and no one even noticed us. And actually, once the bubble came around, I was supposed to be invisible, too. I don’t know when the magic officially protected me, but definitely before I stepped inside, otherwise there’d be a floating person disappearing into thin air.

The only way Kylee could have possibly seen me was if she had MP. The chances of Reed, Kylee, and me all having MP and living in a dinky town like Sproutville was close to impossible. And why wasn’t she working for Façade if she was magical?

Unless her MP hadn’t been ignited yet. The radar at Central Command only monitored the magic of those who’d had that interaction with a magical organism. And she was perceptive, that’s for sure. I mean, my mom believed my Floressa Chase story with all those boxes, yet Kylee always suspected something more was going on.

So…what should I do? If Kylee does have magic, do I tell her about it? I kind of have to, right? She was going to ask about that bubble the second I got home—if I even came home in my bubble; who knows what Façade did after subs were sanitized. Which is what I’d wanted, for her to figure things out on her own. I just never imagined she’d discover the truth
because
of her own magic.

“Desi, please make sure your makeup is properly applied to allow time to transform. And thank you for flying with Façade today.”

I fumbled through my purse until I found my compact. I tried to keep my hand steady as I swiped a touch on each cheek, pausing after to stare at myself in the mirror. I didn’t have time to figure out what had just happened with Kylee, but I would mention the sighting to Reed. Right now, I had a job to get to, a job that—thanks to Genevieve’s omissions—I was not nearly as prepared for as I should be.

I scrolled through the usual research channels—the tabloids, the Façade newsletter. Not even an allusion to a marriage. The tabloids were still debating if the king and Gina were
talking
. This marriage, if it was even happening, had been kept highly under wraps.

“Beginning initial descent,” Daisy chirped. I clicked on the sub chat room. I’d spent weeks researching Floressa, and now I had only a couple minutes to look up Elsa. Granted, I’d subbed for her in the past and talked to the real Elsa while subbing for a princess at an art exhibit. Still, she hadn’t been in the tabloids as much since the Floressa drama happened, and I had no clue where she presently stood with Karl or within royal circles.

Bingo. I was a little jealous when I saw a recent post from an Elsa sub, but I shook it off. I’d Matched for Floressa. Elsa couldn’t have requested me if she’d wanted to.

THECOUNTINGCOUNTESS:
Looks like Princess Elsa and Prince Karl are still going strong. While I was subbing for Elsa, I never saw Karl. Elsa is away at finishing school in London now, and Karl obviously had prince duties to do in Fenmar, BUT they e-mail and talk on the phone a lot. Kind of a gooey relationship—hard not to throw up at some of his letters. I was only there for a night for Elsa’s calculus test. Fourth test I’ve taken for a princess this month. If anyone ever says that you won’t use advanced math in real life, this just proves that wrong.


The post didn’t tell me why Elsa would agree to leave during what potentially could be the biggest royal event of the year, but then again, maybe she didn’t know she was ditching out on the wedding. The important thing I knew was that Karl and Elsa were still together and that Elsa was back in school.

I held on to my armrest as we landed and came to a halt. I stood and my neck creaked. As great as it was having the freedom of my own bubble, I did miss the smoothness of Meredith’s ride. But not Meredith, of course. Not only had she literally taken Reed away, but she’d allowed Genevieve to step in as my “mentor.” If Meredith was so smart, she could have at least made sure I was in better hands. Power must have changed her. I couldn’t believe I’d felt bad for her prince—he was probably much better off without her. I know I was.

Two minutes later, the Rouge kicked in and I was Elsafied, huge eyes, golden hair and all.

“You’re here!” Floressa squealed just as soon as I’d stepped out of the bubble and into…her bedroom? Or maybe a high school gym decorated like a bedroom, because one person could not possibly have a living space this massive. Floressa was lounging on a purple comforter on top of a canopied bed. The damask wallpaper and funky accents were all cute, but what I didn’t get was the wall of pictures, head shots, and magazine clips, all of Floressa. Only Floressa.

She noticed me staring and clapped her hands. “There was this old Oprah episode that said you should do a dream board to inspire you to grow.”

“But those are all pictures of you,” I said.

“No, duh. That reminds me WHO I AM so that I stay that way. I mean, I’m not going to put an astronaut up there. Why would I want to be anyone else?”

Humble.

She patted her bed. “Come sit by me. We need to dish.”

I plopped down on the bed next to Floressa, still awed by the size of the space. Did I mention there was another bed on the other side of the room?

“Why do you have that bed?” I asked.

She frowned. “So I can rotate. It’s bad for your back to sleep on the same mattress every night.”

“Says who?”

“Experts.” She squeezed my arm. “Now, isn’t my plan genius?”

Genius was not the first word that came to mind when I thought of Floressa. “What plan is that?” I asked.

“My plan to bring you here, Desi.” She covered her mouth. “I mean—oops! Elsa.”

“Because of the wedding?”

She tightened her grip on my arm. Ouch—she must have ditched the roller-skating and taken up weight lifting. “WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT THE WEDDING?”

Oops
is right. If Barrett left to get away from Floressa, he wouldn’t have told her he was gone. And he was probably one of the only people who would know about the wedding. “It was in my sub information,” I said. “Sometimes they add more than you do, to help us prepare.”

She sat back. “Oh. Good. Because this is the most top secret event in the history of top secret. The only other person who knows is my little sister, Isla. Half sister. You met her, right?”

“She’s cute,” I said.

“She’s crazy. Totally fan-girls on me all the time. It gets annoying.” She braided a piece of her long black hair. “Oh, and I told Barrett, so he’ll know to be extra-supportive. And Ryder, but that’s a given because he’s designing my gown. And now you.”

“I’m honored,” I said.

“So do you see why you’re here? I needed someone to help me through this. If I had you sub for me, then I would miss out on all the partying. This way, it’s like you’re my lady-in-waiting. And since Elsa is a princess, and now I’m a princess, and we’re dating brothers, no one will think it’s weird that we’re beffies. See? Genius!”

You know what? It kind of was. Floressa was good at figuring out Façade’s loopholes. Lady-in-waiting/errand girl was how she viewed my job anyway. This was going to be easier than the last time I subbed for her, that was for sure. Not to mention, Elsa wasn’t going to be in the spotlight as much as Floressa, so I might get an opportunity to search for Caprice. Uh, with Floressa’s boyfriend. Yeah, that kink was going to need some work. “So what can I help you with, my lady?”

Floressa scrunched up her nose. “Don’t do that.”

“You said I was your lady-in-waiting. I was being funny.”

She sighed. “That’s right. I forgot how nerdy you are.”

“Hey!”

“That’s okay. It’s not your fault. You were probably born that way.” She rolled off her bed and glided over to the large vanity table. Actually, I think it might have been a kitchen table converted to a vanity table. Nearly ever inch was covered in some sort of makeup or cream or lotion. She opened a glass cube on the corner of the table and removed a bedazzled perfume bottle. “I designed this fragrance myself. It’s my trademark scent. I patented it so no one else can wear it.”

“It’s nice to see you’re using your power and influence for good.”

She applied another coat of mascara in the mirror. “I’m not paying you to be sarcastic.”

“Then what are you paying me for?” I asked. “Should I be fluffing your pillows? I’ve never done this friend-princess thing.”

“Oh, we aren’t real friends.”

“I know.”

“Good. No offense, but I don’t want you doing
Behind the Celebrity
on Floressa Chase someday and claiming you know me. This is business. Although I will say you have beautiful hair.”

“Um, it’s not mine. But I’ll let Elsa know.”

Floressa tossed her own shiny locks. “So the first thing we need to focus on is my dress. Ryder and I are designing it, but there are still some last-minute tweaks and accessories. Since you
were
me, I figured you’d have good insight on what works.” She puckered her lips as she looked at Elsa’s clothes—a blue polo shirt with khakis. For how beautiful she was, Elsa’s style was still very functional and no-nonsense. “And I’ll have Ryder make you something nice to wear, too.”

I smoothed down my shirt. I wanted Elsa to look good for Elsa’s sake. “I can’t believe Elsa would miss this. A royal wedding has to be one of the biggest events since she joined the royal scene. How did you convince her to leave?” I asked.

“Her grouchy grandma—”

“Nana Helga?”

“I don’t know. She used to be royal but quit for some reason—”

“That’s Nana Helga, then.”

“Whatever! Nana Helen—”

“Helga.”

“—finally agreed to go on a vacation to the royal resort with Elsa. So they’re there together, bonding.”

“Nana Helga is really making progress if she is using Façade’s services,” I said.

“Yeah. I don’t care. And Karl went too, so they could have some time away from the press.”

“Karl has a sub?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant. Because if Reed wasn’t Karl, then maybe this sub Karl was using was the same sub I’d hung out with last time I subbed for Elsa. I no longer put as much value in that magical day, but it’d be nice to at least know who I had been with. Was it Karl, or an entirely different sub? “Will the real Karl be back at all, or is he gone the whole time with Elsa?”

“Um, this isn’t about Elsa or Karl. It’s about me.”

“Still, it was nice of Elsa to let a random girl come sub for her just so you could have help.”

“I might have told her I’d ruin her reputation if she didn’t leave. Just a little extra motivation.”

Oh. So that made more sense. “Did you think about what
she
would want?”

Floressa unscrewed her mascara and started to glob another coat onto her lashes. “I didn’t pay for a guilt trip, either.”

I bit at a nail. As sweet as Elsa was, she wasn’t one to back down because of a threat. Seeing her grandma and Karl probably outweighed any appeal of hanging out with Floressa. “So what’s the next thing we need to do?”

Floressa set down her mascara and turned to look at me. “The guest list. My mom and Aung are telling everyone that this is a holiday party, and then they’re going to surprise them with a wedding. Well, my mom said I could only have two people come, but I was barely able to narrow it down to fifteen. So you need to figure out how to get everyone in.”

“
I
need to figure that out? I don’t know security or who these people are or—”

“You’re magical. You can do it.” Floressa walked over to her closet and started digging through dresses. She held a silver flapper-style dress against her chest and scrunched her nose.

“And then what?” I asked.

Floressa threw the dress on the ground and grabbed a black strapless number. “Hmmmm?”

“What’s my last item of business?”

“Oh. That’s easy.” She smiled at me. “I need you to ruin the wedding.”