When Gabriel Woodweiss brought home an ancient sword to display as his latest antique treasure, he didn’t imagine that its original owner would show up in his basement to claim his property. One moment Marius was praying to his god to save him from servitude in the gladiator ring; the next he’s in a room where the only familiar object is his sword. The fact that a handsome man claims ownership of Marius’s beloved weapon—and knowledge of the strange and wonderful world in which he now finds himself—is proof to Marius’s mind that sometimes the gods do answer the faithful. Now Marius just has to convince Gabriel that keeping the sword is fair and just—as long as he keeps the man who comes with it.

When Marius hands Ezra a Roman gladius with a stylized T in the hilt, he tells Ezra that it's special. Ezra finds out just how special when he wakes up to a gladiator in his house. He soon learns that like Marius, Titus prayed to Janus to give him a new life and the god complied. Now that he's met the man to go along with the sword, Ezra realizes that he yearns to share his world, and his life, with the gladiator. Titus knew nothing except the arena and his few good friends in the cohort. He follows Marius' lead, trusting the god to deliver him from his brutal life. When he realizes he's in Ezra's house, and that Ezra has his sword, he quickly learns that the modern world is good. Bacon? Hot water? What more could a gladiator want? Getting to know Ezra, and exploring his delicious body would make an excellent start.

Greg restores ancient weapons. When the ancient Roman gladius he's storing, brings him Lucius the gladiator, he's intrigued. A backyard barbecue at Ezra's house with his friend Gabriel, and both men's lovers, Marius and Titus reveals that Lucius isn't the first gladiator to come through time, and he won't be the last. Except Lucius believes Greg is the embodiment of his lover Gregor, who was killed by Roman Soldiers, and Greg isn't certain how feels about being a gladiator's lost love. Lucius prayed to Janus just like Marius and Titus before him. His heart broken from the death of Gregor, he just wants freedom—a new life. Surely Janus will take him away, too. When he finds himself in Greg's home, and discovers the man has his gladius, he knows the gods had their hands in this, for Greg looks exactly like Gregor, the man he loved and lost. He won't lose his lover again, even if it means learning to live in this strange time and place.