As Bhathian kissed Eva and the crowd erupted in cheers, Tessa and the other bridesmaids and groomsmen were free to go and enjoy the party.

The problem was pushing through the crowd of well-wishers. No one paid attention to the small woman trying to get away from the podium instead of closer to it. And the damn sari wasn’t helping.

How did Indian women walk in those things so gracefully? They must’ve been using a lot of safety pins. Tessa was struggling to keep the long swathe from sliding off her shoulder, and the skirt from tangling between her legs.

Perhaps she could sneak into Amanda's house and change into the original bridesmaid outfit. It wasn’t as beautiful as her sari, but she could walk and dance in it without worrying about it falling apart.

It had been a beautiful ceremony, and Tessa had shed a few happy tears, but now all she wanted was to find Jackson.

Her guy was stuck babysitting Nick. She should join him because Nick was probably freaking out big time. Tessa still remembered Annani visiting her in the clinic and her reaction to the goddess. It had been one hell of an experience, and unlike Nick, Tessa had known what to expect.

Well, she’d thought she had. It wasn’t as if anyone could mentally prepare for Annani.

“Well hello, beautiful.” Jackson intercepted her, taking her hand, the one that wasn’t holding up the skirt, and pulling her behind him as he pushed through the crowd.

“Thank you for saving me,” she said as they reached the tables. “I was afraid of getting trampled.”

“I was watching you the whole time.” Jackson sat down and pulled her into his lap. “You look stunning in this outfit.”

“Thank you, but I’d rather get it off and put on the dress I was originally supposed to wear.”

“No problem. I’ll take you to Amanda’s.” He pushed to his feet with her still in his arms.

Tessa giggled. “I’m not the bride.”

“It’s a practice run.”

She wrapped an arm around his neck. “You just like carrying me around.”

“I do.”

“Wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to watch Nick?”

“I did, up until right before the ceremony. Then I got the brilliant idea of asking Ruth to take my place.”

“I wonder how Nick reacted to seeing Annani. That would be a memory hard to thrall away.”

Jackson propped her up on his knee while pushing the door open. No one locked their doors in the village.

“I hope Ruth kept him too busy to notice.” He carried her to the guest bedroom the bridesmaids had used as their changing room and put her down on the bed.

“Busy how?”

“I told her to kiss him.”

Tessa laughed. “And did she do it?”

“I don’t know. Get dressed, and we’ll go find them. I’m curious.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Tessa was out of the sari in seconds. She shoved it into the plastic bag it had come in and grabbed her dress from the closet.

“Help me zip up?”

Naturally, Jackson copped a feel or two while at it.

“Don’t.” She slapped his hands away. “We don’t have time for that. We need to find them.”

What if Nick was freaking out and Ruth couldn’t handle him? Female immortals weren’t good at thralling because they hardly ever needed to use the ability. Ruth would be helpless, and she would panic.

Sylvia had said that her mother was emotionally fragile.

“You shouldn’t have left her alone with him.” Tessa rushed out, not bothering to take off the fake gold bracelets and dangling earrings. They didn’t go well with her dress, but her own panic was rising with every passing moment.

Jackson caught up with her in no time, his long legs eating the distance that her shorter ones had to trot through. “Relax, kitten. Ruth is not alone. The entire Californian clan is here. If she needs help with Nick, there is plenty of it available.”

“Yeah, and most of them are drunk. Take a look around you.”

The boisterous mood everyone seemed to be in must have been alcohol induced. They were too loud, their smiles too big, and their limbs too uncoordinated.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, forcing her to slow down. “People are happy, and they are exaggerating, but trust me, even slightly inebriated, they can still outdo any human at any task.”

Tessa wanted to tell him that what she was seeing was way more than slightly drunk clansmen, but then she spotted Ruth and Nick, and neither one looked panicked.

“You see? I told you they’d be fine,” Jackson said.

They were sitting next to each other on a bench, Ruth had her arm around Nick, and his head was resting on her shoulder. His eyes were closed, but there was a satisfied smile on his face.

“Hello, guys,” Ruth said very quietly.

“Is he sleeping?” Tessa asked in the same low voice.

“No, I’m just resting. My head is spinning, and Ruthie is keeping it from falling off.” Nick’s eyes remained closed throughout his slurred declaration.

“How did you like the ceremony?” Jackson hazarded.

“I couldn’t see much. The spotlights were so harsh that everything looked like it had a corona. It hurt my eyes and I had to close them. Ruthie had to tell me what was going on because I couldn’t hear anything either. They should have used loudspeakers.”

Tessa exchanged a relieved look with Jackson. “If you feel up to it, you can go and congratulate Eva and Bhathian. The mob should have dispersed by now. I’m telling you, for a moment there I was afraid they’d trample me in their rush to get to the newlywed couple. I was so glad Jackson showed up and saved me.”

Annani had most likely already retired to Kian’s house. If she’d remained, she would have stolen the spotlight away from Bhathian and Eva, and that wouldn’t have been fair to them. After all, this evening was about them.

Nick grimaced. “I’ll do it later when the world stops spinning. I’m afraid to move a muscle.”

Ruth waved a hand. “Go and have fun. I’ll stay with Nick.”

“Are you sure? We could stay here with you and keep you company.”

The pinch Jackson delivered to her behind indicated his opinion on the matter.

“We are fine here all by ourselves. Right, Nick?”

With his eyes still closed, he grinned from ear to ear. “Right.”

Tessa covered her butt with her hands. “Can we at least bring you food? Something to drink? And by that, I mean a non-alcoholic drink.”

“That would be nice. Thank you,” Ruth said.

“Come on, kitten,” Jackson said in a resigned tone. “Let’s get these two something to eat and drink. And then I’m taking you to the dance floor.”

“We could join them for dinner,” she said as they neared the buffet. There was a long line of people holding plates and waiting for their turn to load up. It didn’t make sense to stand in line twice. They could each carry two plates and then go back for the drinks.

“Kitten, I’m surprised at you. It’s obvious that they want to be alone.”

“I think Ruth was just being nice and didn’t want to trouble us.”

“Maybe, but I’m betting on love. I suggest that we each load up two plates, but you stay here and find us a place to sit while I deliver the other two to the lovebirds.”