“Safe how?”

He shrugged in answer. “Don’t know. But there’s more: Wolfe remembered. The secret prison is in Rome. Morgan confirmed that. We just don’t have final proof that Thomas is inside.”

Glain had a thousand questions, he could see it, but this wasn’t the time. They took up an at-ease position against the wall and waited for the rest to arrive.

Watching arrivals was almost as sickening as going through it himself. Jess stood stoically as one after another, the other members of their squad formed in swirls of blood and bone from the air, solidifying into themselves in the support of the stone chair. Most of the other soldiers made it without giving in to the nausea.

Santi’s lieutenant arrived and swung her legs off to push herself to her feet after just a bare few seconds, as if she’d only sat down for a rest. Santi came right behind her, and with even less time for adjustment. Neither of them seemed impaired in the least.

“Form up!” the lieutenant barked, as Santi walked on. She followed, and the rest of them fell in behind in perfect order.

Then they boarded carriers again. Jess remembered Santi’s observation that the Translation Chamber in Rome was at least a mile from the basilica, and he’d been right, but at least it was a short ride. Jess hardly had time to get uncomfortable before they were ordered out again, formed up, and walked down a long stone-and-column hallway to an arched entrance that glowed with the light of sunset. Beyond was a long, steep fall of worn stone steps; on the steps lounged an entire pride of Library lion automata. They sat still, like the statues they resembled, and they were different from the English versions. These had larger manes that stood out stiffly and curled down in ringlets on broader chests. Magnificent and huge. Beyond a doubt, deadly.

Santi opened his Codex and scrawled something in it, and Jess saw all ten of the lions turn their heads in a smooth, eerie motion to look back at them. Their eyes flickered from dark to red, and one by one, they rose to their feet and began to pace the perimeter. Five remained on the steps, while the others patrolled farther.

Beyond the steps stretched Rome, and though Jess had thought the wonders of Alexandria had numbed him to everything else, the sight of the city stopped him cold. The square—no, this corner of the Forum—was surprisingly small and crowded with marvels. Temples of white marble blushed now with pink and gold by the sunset, and giant golden statues of the Roman gods stood, with citizens passing beneath their feet without any thought for the splendor above. Pigeons lined the broad shoulders of Jupiter and the outstretched arm of Juno, both statues taller than any of the other monuments. The famous hills of the city rolled above, and the spreading palaces and homes of the rich beyond that, growing larger and more lavish the farther up they went.