That instant of oh crap was gone when I blinked, finding myself standing in the corridor outside the door to Rome, that black spark still hovering before me, making no move to join me or find a host, just hovering and waiting like something still had to happen.

And I wasn't alone with that spark, Cadence at my side, gaping as I did, the complement of Roman gods and goddesses, Juno among them, huddled in a terrified mass nearby, staring at the place where the door to their home ...