Ancient secrets are revealed when some of the Lords and Ladies of the Abyss show up at Mark Ramsay's estate in Scotland for a little get together. More and more interesting facts come to light about the Knight of Death's past, and he must renew his search for the Ancient Evil who is still bent upon gaining access to the crystal skulls. Mark's old nemesis, Abaddon, uses Lucio to gain information from Catherine de Goth about one of the skulls, while Mark takes a trip to New York looking for buried treasure. Publicity does not help the Order's cause whenever Mark and his Brother are taken hostage by the King of England who is already under Jozsef Daniel's sway. Meanwhile, something very horribly twisted comes of Bari Kadif's meddling with Ruth's mind and his 'misunderstanding' about how things work. On top of it all, the elf King decides it is time for him to marry... a human. The Prologue contains the author's version of how the Templar Initiation Rite might have been enacted and is optional reading.