Chapter 7 Portal Puke
PORTAL PUKE
Addie
Addie, Max, and Bailey entered the New York Botanical Gardens conservatory, the gorgeous, open space, home to colorful flowers and thriving plants …
and the Olympus Portal. For the regular citizen, the stone structure abutting the end of the reflection pool created the perfect ambiance and selfie background.
For Addie, it signaled the start of what would be a day filled with portal sickness—stomach cramps and nausea that made the worst food poisoning seem like a tropical beach vacation.
Addie dropped her tote bag on the nearby bench, and while a couple taking pictures near the portal finished up their photo session, pulled out the white linen dress she wore only when day-tripping to the land of the gods.
Tossing it on over her clothes, she used the flowy fabric to camouflage her outfit change, and Maxi did the same.
“Freaking Olympian dress code,” Bailey grumbled as they tugged their doctored wide-leg jumper over their running clothes. “What could they do if I show up wearing red? Take away my visitor badge? If they tried, my mom would start slinging arrows.”
Addie chuckled, already imagining the bow-and-arrow-wielding Athena on the warpath. It didn’t take much to set off the Goddess of War’s temper, but messing with one of her children did it almost instantly.
The nearby couple murmured to each other while stealing curious, jealous glances at them.
“Think we could convince them to go in our place?” Addie murmured.
Maxi smirked. “Look at it this way. You show your face, let the aunts and uncles pinch your cheeks, commiserate with a few of the cousins, and then you’ll be good for at least six months before Mom starts badgering you for another visit.”
“If anyone comes at me for a pinch, I will sic Do-Re-Mi on them.” Addie glanced down at her pups, whose tail wagged furiously, their gazes fixed longingly on the portal.
Bailey snorted. “Yeah, death by licking. What a way to go, am I right?”
“Can you three try and look a little more ferocious?” Addie rolled her eyes when their tail thumped wildly on the ground in response. “Guess not.”
“You complain about visiting every time we go, but then when we get there, you end up having a good time,” Maxi pointed out.
“I wouldn’t say good…”
But it wasn’t that far off.
After making the rounds and showing her face, she usually ended up at her favorite spot, a small out-of-the-way gazebo nestled along the perimeter of Fates Lake, which was coincidentally, her uncle Hades’s favorite hiding location, too.
Although far enough away from the Olympus hub to avoid most of the activity, it was close enough to serve as a prime viewing area as people made fools of themselves.
She and Hades usually recited play-by-plays that made even the most comical sports announcers pale in comparison.
Hopefully she’d at least get a little time at her spot, but she couldn’t forget the reason she’d finally agreed to this day trip—other than getting her mother off her back.
Aunt Eunice.
The Muses.
Aka, she needed a Muse 101 lesson so she could hold up her end of the deal with Phoenix, a deal she still couldn’t believe that she’d agreed to. A FAMA. Fauxmance Arrangement and Muse Agreement.
Addie didn’t know the first thing about being a Muse and while Phoenix had told her to just be herself, she was pretty sure she’d need to do more than binge-watch her true-crime documentaries in her pj’s.
Once she had a basic idea of what to expect, she could formulate a plan …
and then they could scratch each other’s backs.
Not literally.
Well, maybe …
“You ready to get this over with?” Addie adjusted the gold rope belt around her waist and peeked over her shoulder to make sure her ass wasn’t hanging out because the one time she didn’t check after a quick-change would feed the fire for a lifetime of ridicule.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Maxi stepped up to the portal, taking her spot on the left while Addie took the right, with Bailey in the center.
With a quick glance in each other’s direction, they simultaneously pressed their palms against the elaborate stone surface.
At first touch, the cool rock elicited a wave of goose bumps, making Addie wish she was back in her clothes—and in a hoodie—instead of the light double-sleeved tank-toga.
But the stone slowly warmed, the surface glowing brighter beneath their palms until the entire arch lit up.
If Addie didn’t know what lay on the other side, she would’ve found the sight breathtaking, as did a few of the spectators hovering in the perimeter.
“State your line.” The disembodied voice of one of the Fates drifted in on a nonexistent breeze.
Addie rolled her eyes at her aunt’s attempt at humor. “Pretty sure you knew the second we placed our palms on the stone … but if you don’t want to let us in, that’s okay. You’ll be the one to explain it to our mothers though.”
To her left, Maxi snorted.
Her aunt sighed heavily. “It’s bad enough I drew the short straw that put me on portal duty, but now you’re taking away any potential fun that I can find, Adalyn Love Whitlock.”
“Hey, hey. There’s no need for full-name calling,” Addie teased.
“But fine … we’ll play along.” She cleared her throat and shot Maxi an amused glance before turning back to the portal.
“The children of Aphrodite and Athena seek entrance into Olympus. Please light our way and guide our feet … oh Great Guardian of the Portal.”
Maxi’s and Bailey’s laughs ended on a snort and the portal pulsed, signifying the impending opening.
Their aunt’s voice invited, “You may enter, children of Aphrodite and Athena … and prepare your cheeks for pinching, smart-ass.”
“Boys?” Addie tapped her leg and Do-Re-Mi bounded to her side, and as the pulsing glow held strong, signaling the opening, they leaped into the light first.
Maxi, Bailey, and Addie joined hands as they mentally and physically prepared for portal travel.
“Hold my hair back when I puke, okay?” Addie’s stomach already churned.
“Ditto.” Maxi grimaced. “Goddess, I hate puking.”
“On the count of three?” Bailey suggested.
Maxi nodded. “One.”
“Two.”
“Oh, by the way,” Addie interjected abruptly, “Phoenix Cross offered his fake boyfriend services, and I agreed. All I have to do in return is play at being his Muse.”
“What?” Maxi and Bailey screeched simultaneously as Addie took the first step through the portal.
The gate sucked all three of them into the light.
Addie’s curses fell away as the portal magic dropped over her like a heavy blanket, stealing both her words and her stomach.
A dueling battle between a mega-force vacuuming your body forward and suction cups sealing your feet to the nonexistent ground, portal traveling elicited the oddest sensations.
Five seconds felt like a hundred until they reached the other end, stumbling through another golden haze and into the bright, Earthlike light of Mount Olympus.
Addie instantly regretted that morning’s everything bagel as she leaned over and evacuated every ounce of her stomach contents, and quite possibly a few organs, onto the vivid green grass.
“I will never, in a million years, get used to that sensation.” Addie deep-breathed through another rush of nausea, barely staving off a new round of gagging.
On her left, Maxi fared just as well, her usually pinkish glow a dimmed sallow green. Bailey, on the other hand, appeared unaffected, their arms crossed over their chest as they glowered directly at Addie.
“You do not blurt out things like ‘Phoenix Cross offered his fake boyfriend services’ moments before portal traveling,” Bailey admonished, not looking the least bit amused. “And what the hell do you mean that you’re going to be his Muse?”
Fighting through each deep breath, Addie stood. “He claims I’m his Muse, so in exchange for doing Muse things, he’ll pretend to sweep me off my feet. Look, I have no idea how this will work, or if it even will.”
“It will,” Bailey stated adamantly.
“Then why is your Angry Athena Artery pulsating at your temple?”
Her cousin’s lips slowly twitched into a smirk. “Because I’m a little pissed that I wasn’t the one to think of it.”
Maxi dry heaved one more time before joining the discussion. “So what does being his Muse entail?”
“No fucking clue.” Addie shrugged. “That’s why I finally caved to Mom’s incessant badgering about the reunion. I hoped I could get some alone time with Aunt Eunice.”
Bailey clapped their hands. “Then let’s get this show on the road.”
Thanks to contemporary art pieces, most people pictured Mount Olympus as open sky with a cloud-like ground, and while the sky—more often than not—was a gorgeous cerulean blue, Olympus itself looked a lot like Central Park.
Wide open spaces and lush green grass made it possible to frolic—if someone was the frolicking type. Like Do-Re-Mi. Their tongues lolled as their heads whipped toward Addie, silently asking for frolicking permission.
“Go. Stay out of trouble.” She smirked as they took off, joyous barks alerting everyone nearby to their presence.
“Funny how you tell those mutts to stay out of trouble, but you, my dear niece, are the embodiment of it.” Aunt Clotho, the youngest of the original Fates, stepped around the side of the portal, an exact copy of the one back in New York. “Are you prepared for cheek-pinching?”
“Are you prepared for a firsthand demonstration on just how uncouth we demigod New Yorkers can be?” Addie fired back, grinning as she used one of her aunt’s favorite taunts.
As expected, Clotho laughed, taking time to give each of them a firm hug. “I’m glad the three of you could make it this time. It means a lot to your mothers.”
“Yeah, well … we’re doing our god-spawn duty.”
Her aunt shot her a knowing look. “Spawn duty with some extracurriculars thrown into the mix, yes? Very efficient of you.”