Epilogue
“You ready?” Addie glanced to Phoenix standing next to her and gave his hand a firm, supportive squeeze.
“Sure. Yeah. One hundred percent ready.” Phoenix’s voice cracked slightly.
From Addie’s other side, Bailey snorted. “He looks greener than my morning matcha smoothie and we haven’t even stepped through the portal yet.”
Her cousin wasn’t wrong. Addie watched Phoenix worriedly as the sweat peppering across his forehead intensified.
“Seriously, I’m good.” Phoenix cleared his throat and, squeezing her hand, offered her a brave smile that brought out that dimple she loved. “It’s not every day a guy gets to meet his girl’s extended family.”
“Just remember what I said and you’ll be fine,” Addie reassured him.
Phoenix nodded. “Eat anything Hades offers me and try not to look as though I’m eating rocks.”
“Exactly. Other than your father, no one takes his grilling skills more seriously than Hades, and he only goes for one kind of doneness—briquette. And you’re going to love Aunt Persy. She’s the absolute sweetest.”
Maxi added, “And just humor Grandpa Zeus and laugh at his dad jokes—we all know they’re horrible but, well, he controls the lightning, so it’s just best to laugh.”
Phoenix’s head bobbed as he went through the Gods 101 CliffsNotes he’d gotten on the way to the gardens. “Eat rocks. Love Persy. Laugh with Zeus.”
“You’re going to be fine.” Addie pulled him close and lifted onto her toes, gifting him a slow kiss that she felt down to her toes. “They will all love you just like I do.”
Addie glanced to Bails and her sister, and with a faint nod, they each laid a palm on the arch. The stone pulsed and glowed, the center shimmering as it came online.
“State your lineage,” a disembodied male voice—that instantly sounded familiar—chimed.
Withholding a soft giggle, Addie cleared her throat. “The children of Athena and Aphrodite—and special guest—humbly seek entry to Olympus.”
The portal shimmered brighter as the god on the other side of the portal made them wait.
“Special guest, huh? What makes him so special … and deserving of a daughter of Aphrodite?”
Next to Addie, Phoenix muttered a string of soft curses.
Addie rolled her eyes. “Because the daughter of Aphrodite loves him with all her heart and soul, and if the uncle of Aphrodite’s daughter does anything to make him nervous or feel unwelcome, then I’ll be forced to retaliate in the form of sending in said uncle’s wife to deal with the matter.”
From the other side of the portal, Hades chuckled. “Well, when you put it that way … you may all enter. And I’ll be on my best behavior. I even have your human’s plate all prepared.”
Maxi entered the portal first, followed closely by Bailey, who jumped in with a wink in their direction.
“You ready to go portal jumping with me, Phoenix Cross?” Addie wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed.
Phoenix’s arms tightened as he dropped a sweet kiss to her lips. “Love, I am ready, willing, and able to go jumping anywhere with you. Lead the way.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll hold your hair back when you puke,” Addie said a split second before tugging Phoenix through the portal. “Again.”