Page 38 of Dark Princess Ascending

"Thank you." Jasmine beamed at him. "I hadn't realized how much I missed it until I was up there." She turned to Brandon. "I'm also going to sing at the wedding, and Jackson and Vlad are going to accompany me on guitar."

"That's wonderful." Brandon squeezed Morelle's hand. "What songs are you planning for the event?"

"Just a couple. 'Can't Help Falling in Love' for their first dance, and 'Make You Feel My Love' during the ceremony." Jasmine's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "The rest will be broadcast through the loudspeakers from Peter's playlist—it was literally his only contribution to the planning, but at least he has good taste. He included classics like 'All of Me' and 'Perfect,' plus some more upbeat numbers for dancing."

"Amanda must be pleased to have such a hands-off groom," Brandon said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I don't think she would have minded some additional input, but I suspect that she prefers to have total control. The less the bride and groom interfere with her plans, the better. She has a certain vision for the party and she's having a blast planning everything down to the last detail." Jasmine took a sip of her coffee. "She loved that Marina left everything to her. The poor girl feels overwhelmed, so having Amanda do it for her relieves a lot of the pressure."

Morelle barely registered their words. The venom's incredible effects were still coursing through her, but the deep sense of connection she felt with Brandon was even better. Every time she looked at him, her heart swelled with emotion.

They hadn't completed their bond last night, but she wasn't disappointed. It would happen soon, and in the meantime, Brandon was teaching her all these wonderful ways to enjoy each other.

"Speaking of planning," Ell-rom said, drawing Morelle's attention back to the conversation even though he was addressing Jasmine, "you should call your father and find out when he's going hunting next. Catching him alone at the cabin is our best option."

Jasmine's smile faded. "I know I need to do that, but I'm deliberately avoiding it because I hate talking to him." She pushed her food around herplate. "He manages to turn every conversation into a confrontation. Nothing I do is worthwhile. I'm wasting my time on pursuing a career in acting, I'm getting too old to be given any good roles, and I only date losers instead of finding a man to settle down with and start a family. After talking to him, I always feel depressed."

"Not this time." Ell-rom clasped her hand. "None of that is even remotely true."

His words didn't seem to have an effect on her. "Yeah, but I can't tell him that, now, can I?"

"You can when we are alone with him in the cabin," Ell-rom said. "You can throw in his face that you will never be too old for anything and that you are mated to a demigod." He chuckled. "Never mind that said demigod has no job, so he is technically a loser, but your father doesn't need to know that. We are going to thrall him to forget that anyway."

That seemed to do the trick and improve Jasmine's mood.

She smiled brightly. "Now you've given me an incentive to call him. I can't wait to see his face when we tell him that."

"Can Brandon and I come?" Morelle asked. "I would love to see more of this world and leave the village for a day?—"

She cut herself off as Jasmine winced, and understanding dawned. Of course, Jasmine wouldn't want an audience for what was likely tobe an emotional and potentially devastating confrontation with her father. The reason she needed to talk to him was to find out what he knew about her mother, and she wouldn't want witnesses for that.

To cover the awkward moment, Morelle turned to Brandon. "Speaking of seeing the world, have you reconsidered joining me for a Perfect Match world tour adventure?"

His eyes met hers, and something in his expression made her heart skip. "Actually, I've been thinking about it, especially last night."

She arched a brow. "Really? What were you thinking?"

22

BRANDON

Brandon reached for his coffee cup and took a sip to give himself time to collect his thoughts. "I've had some interesting ideas about potential new applications for the technology."

"Such as?" Morelle leaned closer, seeming to be intrigued by the shift in his attitude.

After he'd told her that he didn't want anything to do with Perfect Match, she was naturally surprised.

He still didn't want to participate, though, just to offer an idea, and he didn't want to give her the wrong impression by telling her about it, but he'd backed himself into a corner by blurting it out.

"I was thinking about how immortal females eventually build up tolerance to the venom effects and how that experience becomes harder to achieve over time."

Jasmine perked up. "Oh! I know what you're thinking, and it's brilliant."

He smiled. "I didn't tell you my idea yet, so hold your accolades."

"Okay, I'm holding them." Jasmine lifted her hands in a gesture that suggested she was holding the reins. "Go ahead."

"I was thinking the Perfect Match team could create an adventure that mimics the venom trip experience. They could collect data from willing participants about their experiences and use it to program something similar."