Tori Jackson, the Daughter of Neptune, Book Two

XIV

Tori's pov

That night I got a few hours of sleep. Uninterrupted, genuinely good, 6 hours of sleep. But, I had business in Charleston. I had to be up at 3am to go see someone I haven't seen in far too long.

I dressed in all black and I was going to put my hair up in a ponytail, but my hair tie broke.

"Damn it!" I whisper-screamed. I loved this hair tie, it was my best one. It fit around my hair three times perfectly and didn't stretch out too much on my wrist. It was perfect. Alas, I put one on my wrist to stretch it out.

I left my room at 3:45 and was walking down the hall to get to a window, when I tripped.

"Really, Jackson!" I muttered at myself.

"Tori, Is that you?" I heard a voice from the dark and footsteps toward me. "Tori, I heard you."

I stood up. "You caught me, you caught me. I'm going to go now. So long and goodnight/good morning."

"Slow your roll there, Jackson," Leo lit a tiny fire in his hand. "Where are you going at 3:45am and why is your wrist red?"

"I'm going places that are not your business. My wrist is red because my hair tie is brand new and is cutting off my circulation. Anymore questions?" I snapped.

"Why would you put a hair tie on your wrist if it's cutting off your circulation? Doesn't that hurt?" he asked, raising his eye brow.

"It does, it's annoying as hell, but I manage. Now, can I go before we wake anyone up and get in trouble?" My glasses slipped on my face.

"Give me the hair tie on your wrist, I'll stretch it out for you."

"This will cut off your circulation, why would you want to do this—I hate it." I tapped my foot.

"I don't care. Give to me and I'll let you go wherever you're going." Valdez said, pushing my glasses on my face

"Fine." I handed the small black band to him. "Happy?"

"Very," he smirked. "Where are you headed to at 3:45—almost 4:00—in the morning?"

"It's a little personal, I don't really want to say." I turned my face away,

Valdez shrugged off the rejection. "You don't have to say, I won't make you, just know that I'm here."

"Thanks, Valdez," I gave him a small smile. "I gotta bolt, I'll be back before 6."

"How are you leaving?"

"There's water underneath us, right?" I asked.

"Yes." He replied.

"That's your answer, Hair Ties. Peace." And with that, I was out.

I walked on the cold gravel of the winding driveway of the cemetery, the gate far behind. Nothing had changed other than me.

The wind moved through the black silhouette of the trees. Even with the Charleston summer warmth and all the black I was wearing, the place still gave me goosebumps.

Finally, I got to my meet up point, a foot away from an oak tree.

I sat down in front of the gray tombstone. Anthony Gabriellou. Loving Husband and Father. Born: June 21st 1966 Died: May 23rd 1996.

"Hey, Dad." I said to the stone. "Long time no see. We have so much to talk about."

There wasn't any reply other than the hot wind.

"Well, remember Alex—he's dead. Died during the war. Complete disaster. Neptune disowned me. Sure, he wasn't much of a father, but he was my father and he just... I was made a Praetor. I hope you're proud, Max gave me his spot mid battle during the war. Lifelong dream-achieved. The job was pretty stressful, but I was so happy with it. Oh, Octavian hates me, that friendship went straight to hell. It was all my fault and it's understandable why he's mad, but he has been trying to get my praetorship for his own and is being a huge asshole about it."