The Tyrant's Tomb

Frank kicked a piece of stone. “What’s the alternative?”
“A nervous breakdown?” I suggested. “Running away? But I’m new to
this being mortal business.”
“Yeah, well. I can’t say those ideas haven’t crossed my mind, but you
can’t really do that when you’re a praetor.” He frowned. “Though I’m
worried about Reyna. She’s been carrying the burden a lot longer than I
have. Years longer. The strain of that…I dunno. I just wish I could help her
more.”
I recalled Venus’s warning: You will not stick your ugly, unworthy godly
face anywhere near her. I wasn’t sure which idea was more terrifying: that I
might make Reyna’s life worse, or that I might be responsible for making her
life better.
Frank apparently misinterpreted my look of concern. “Hey, you’ll be
fine. Hazel will keep you safe. She’s one powerful demigod.”
I nodded, trying to swallow the bitter taste in my mouth. I was tired of
others keeping me safe. The whole point of consulting the arrow had been to
figure out how I could get back to the business of keeping others safe. That
used to be so easy with my godlike powers.
Was it, though? another part of my brain asked. Did you keep the Sibyl
safe? Or Hyacinthus or Daphne? Or your own son Asclepius? Should I go
on?
Shut up, me, I thought back.
“Hazel seems more worried about you,” I ventured. “She mentioned
some crazy stunts in the last battle?”
Frank squirmed as if trying to shake an ice cube out of his shirt. “It
wasn’t like that. I just did what I had to.”
“And your piece of tinder?” I pointed to the pouch hanging from his belt.
“You’re not worried about what Ella said…? Something about fires and
bridges?”
Frank gave me a dry little smile. “What, me worry?”
He reached into the pouch and casually pulled out his life stick: a chunk
of charred wood the size of a TV remote control. He flipped it and caught it,
which almost gave me a panic attack. He might as well have pulled out his
beating heart and started juggling it.
Even Hannibal looked uncomfortable. The elephant shifted from foot to
foot, shaking his massive head.