Her Lion Billionaire(12)

Instantaneously, she was sucked into Jeremy's memory.

It was only a fraction of a second, but at that moment, it became clear  to her that Jeremy's dislike of her was beyond disapproval. He also  loathed his own stepbrother, Daniel, with all his might.

With Jeremy's memory reel flashing before her eyes, Charlotte could see  that Jeremy harbored ill intent towards Daniel. Jeremy was jealous that  Daniel was the alpha of their pride. Daniel had inherited the family  fortune and the position as the head of the family.

In one particular memory frame, she could see a vision of Jeremy talking  to his close friends about killing Daniel. Jeremy was in a drunken  state, but his intention was far too real. It would be easy to sabotage  the jet that Daniel used for his business trips. If Daniel's Gulfstream  went down in flames before the London gathering, Jeremy would be  nominated as the next alpha of the Addington pride.

Charlotte pulled away in horror. She couldn't speak for a moment as Jeremy offered her the purse back.

"Are you okay?" Daniel helped her stand up.

She flustered. "I'm fine." She took her purse from Jeremy's hand carefully.

Jeremy noticed her quirk. "I wash my hands often, you know," he said in a cheery tone.

Charlotte knew better. "Sorry."

"She doesn't like to be touched," Daniel explained. "You'll have to excuse her."

"Phobia of germs?" Jeremy asked.

"No," Daniel laughed. "She's a Dream Eater."

There had been no discussion of what she really was at the dinner table.  Jeremy's girlfriend was human, she sensed. And so was the vice  president, Bennet, and his wife.

"Dream eater?" Jeremy's girlfriend chirped. "What's that?"

"She's sensitive," said Daniel. "Like psychic."

"Oh yeah? You have to give me a reading sometimes," Sandy said. "I'm into Tarot and stuff."

Charlotte forced herself to smile wide. "Maybe next time."

The only person who didn't laugh was Jeremy. There was semi-terror in  his eyes when he found out that she wasn't an ordinary person as he'd  perceived.

Charlotte pretended she didn't notice, but she felt a chill creep up her  neck as they said goodbye for the night and headed into their own room.   





 

Jeremy's eyes were unsettling to her nerves.

They were murderous.





Chapter Seven





Charlotte avoided Jeremy whenever she could after that encounter. It was  hard to do. Jeremy had a knack for ambushing her when she least  expected it. She didn't breathe a word about what she saw in Jeremy to  Daniel. She wasn't quite sure how to phrase it to Daniel without  sounding like a tattletale. Moreover, she was an outsider. She'd met  Daniel less than two weeks ago. Daniel and Jeremy had been brothers  since forever.

Curiously, Jeremy seemed intrigued by her ability. Last evening, he'd  deliberately trapped her in the elevator as she was going down for  dinner.

"I'd like to have a word with you, and it's a secret."

Jeremy's visibly forced smile didn't make her feel any better. She was alarmed. "Yes?"

"If I touch you, would you be able to tell my future?" Jeremy edged closer.

"Please don't do that." Charlotte shrank into a corner.

"Why not? I bet my brother did more than touch."

"He's different."

"Different how?" Jeremy pressed.

"I like him."

"And you don't like me?"

She regretted her choice of words. "I don't like to be touched by  strangers. Look, I can't tell fortunes, okay? If I could, I'd have won  the lottery by now."

"You sell yourself short, Dream Eater. Do you realize how rare you are?  Shifters like us are plenty, but there's only one Dream Lord reigning at  one time, and I heard they live a very long life. Almost immortal. And  for them to have a half-breed child who walks in both planes-our world  and the dreamscape-that's the rarest of the rare."

"You're making too big of a deal out of it. I'm not that special."

"Convince me." Jeremy offered his hand. "Read my future."

"No thanks."

Jeremy cocked his head to the side. The glint in his eyes had turned dangerous. "Oh? Did you see something the other day?"

Charlotte racked her brain for a second, looking for the best excuse to  get her out of this situation. If she told him she didn't see anything,  she bet he wouldn't believe her. Jeremy was too smart for a grade-school  fib.

"Well?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you this," she began.

Jeremy looked even more interested. "What did you see?"

"You and your girlfriend aren't going to last long. Sorry."

He quieted, digesting the information. "That's what you saw? You sure it wasn't something else?"

"You're going to meet someone new and you're going to cheat on her. The  breakup won't be amiable." Charlotte hoped he'd bought her lies. "Can I  get out now? Daniel is waiting for me downstairs."

He watched her for a few seconds before he hit the green button on the elevator. The car lurched downwards.

She couldn't have been more relieved when the door slid open. She  hurried out to find Daniel. She felt like she'd just escaped a lion's  mouth.





As the weekend drew closer, Charlotte felt relieved that Daniel's  meeting would be over the next day. That meant she wouldn't have to face  Jeremy any more. She was restless about the vision she saw. Jeremy  planned to do something to Daniel.

She couldn't trust her vision one hundred percent, because she wasn't  sure if it would come true. The vision she saw about her and Daniel  hadn't exactly panned out completely. What if she was wrong? If she told  Daniel and it turned out to be a false premonition, she wouldn't be  able to face him again.

As the morning shifted to noon, Charlotte decided to take a walk to  clear her head. She trudged into a nearby park. For some reason, she  couldn't get rid of the bad feeling that had plagued her since morning.

She was in deep thought when she heard a screech of brakes. By the time  she paid attention, she only saw the windshield of a car.

Everything went black.





The sales director had just begun his presentation when Daniel's  executive assistant informed him that he had an urgent call from Anika.  Daniel frowned. His sister knew he didn't like being interrupted while  he conducted his business. For her to interrupt him like this, it had to  be important.

Daniel took the phone from his assistant and said, "Please hold." He  stood up and said to everybody, "Excuse me, gentlemen. I have an urgent  phone call to attend to. In the meantime, Mr. Bennet will act as my  stand in."

There was murmuring as Daniel left the conference room. Once outside, he took the call. "Daniel speaking."   





 

"Danny, thank God, finally! I'm at Harborview Hospital right now. You  have to come. Charlotte's had an accident, and she's in the surgery."

"Slow down, sis. I'm not quite following you. Charlotte is supposed to be at the hotel. Tell me from the beginning."

"Charlotte and I were supposed to have lunch today. I came to the hotel a  little after eleven. When I rang to the room, nobody answered, so I  waited in the lobby. But then the hotel manager came to say that there  had been an accident. Charlotte got hit by a car in the park. I rushed  here with the detective from SPD."

Daniel's heart stopped beating for a second. He felt as if he'd  swallowed lead, and he was unable to find his voice as his brain  registered the news. "Charlotte had an accident? She's in surgery?"

"Yes. You have to come! Now! Harborview Hospital. Come quick!"

"I'll be there." Daniel disconnected.

His assistant was loitering a few feet from the conference room, looking  anxious. She broke into a sprint when Daniel called to her. He gave her  the phone. "There's been an emergency in the family, and I will be  indisposed for a while. Let Vice President Bennet know that I want him  to act on my behalf in negotiating the Miramax contract."

"Yes, sir."

"Have Prescott bring the car around the front."

"Yes, sir."

Daniel smoothed his suit jacket as he headed towards the elevator. His  other assistant trailed after him while asking him a barrage of  questions. Daniel didn't feel like answering any at the moment and  hushed him away. He was deeply perturbed. And worried as hell. How the  hell had something like this happened? Getting hit by a car twice in a  month …  it was almost surreal.

His chauffeur, Prescott, was waiting by the time Daniel exited the building. "Harborview Hospital," said Daniel.

"Yes, sir."

"And please hurry. It's urgent."

"Very well, sir."

The ride to the hospital was rather uneventful. He called Anika twice on  the cell, but there were no new developments. His sister was still  waiting for the outcome of the surgery.

He arrived at the hospital twenty-minutes later, and Anika jumped from her seat when she saw him.

"Oh, Danny." Anika hugged him. "This is terrible."

"How is she?" Daniel asked.

"No changes yet." Anika introduced the two gentlemen with her. "Danny,  this is Detective Harper, the man handling this case. And this is  Captain Burke from Seattle PD."