In a world of magic and modernity, fates are about to collide. Angelina Donati has come to New York to kill a man. She holds the magician Eli Leventhal responsible for killing her friend, and as the gifted problem child of a House of magical assassins, she does not expect that Leventhal's vast age, wealth and power will save him. But Eli Leventhal is gathering great forces to fight a far larger war against his long-time magician foe -- Riley, the recently elected Mayor of New York. On opposing ends of Manhattan Island, the world's two last remaining Grand Magisters are preparing for an epic showdown, with the Earth, and its possible destruction, as their prize. In the middle, deciding the balance, is Angelina. In a world where the magical classes draw power from one of twelve Realms, Angelina's powers are wild and strange. Most Realms are living, while one lies dormant. But it is prophecised that from the Dead Realm, old horrors shall rise...