The Tyrant's Tomb

College Avenue exit, then stopped halfway and looked back at his friend.
One Eye grunted and tossed his mane. I imagined his silent exchange
with Short Ears went something like this.
One Eye: I’m gonna give this pathetic loser a ride. You go ahead. I’ll
catch up.
Short Ears: You’re crazy, man. If he gives you any trouble, kick him in the
head.
One Eye: You know I will.
Short Ears trotted off into the night. I couldn’t blame him for leaving. I
hoped he would find a safe place to rest and heal.
One Eye nickered at me. Well?
I took one last look at the Caldecott Tunnel, the interior still a maelstrom
of green flames. Even without fuel, Greek fire would just keep burning and
burning, and that conflagration had been started with Frank’s life force—a
final, thermal burst of heroism that had vaporized Caligula. I didn’t pretend
to understand what Frank had done, or why he had made that choice, but I
understood he’d felt it was the only way. He’d burned brightly, all right. The
last word Caligula had heard as he got blasted into tiny particles of soot was
Jason.
I stepped closer to the tunnel. I could barely get within fifty feet without
the breath being sucked out of my lungs.
“FRANK!” I yelled. “FRANK?”
It was hopeless, I knew. There was no way Frank could have survived
that. Caligula’s immortal body had disintegrated instantly. Frank couldn’t
have lasted more than a few seconds longer, held together by sheer courage
and force of will, just to be sure he took Caligula down with him.
I wished I could cry. I vaguely recalled having tear ducts, once upon a
time.
Now all I had was despair, and the knowledge that as long as I wasn’t
dead, I had to try to help my remaining friends, no matter how much I hurt.
“I’m so sorry,” I said to the flames.
The flames didn’t answer. They didn’t care who or what they destroyed.
I fixed my gaze on the crest of the hill. Hazel, Meg, and the last of the
Twelfth Legion were on the other side, fighting off the undead. That’s where
I needed to be.
“Okay,” I told One Eye. “I’m ready.”