A dark figure haunts her steps. Even as Luimëníssë settles into her husband's mountainous fortress at the Pass of Aglon, the blank spaces in her memory become more frequent. Frightened by these instances and driven by a coming change in their lives, she seeks the counsel of Queen Melian in Doriath where her brother Vantaro protects the ancient woods as a march warden. Luimëníssë is warned the fragile happiness that she and her husband have cultivated can only last for so long. For the Enemy is gaining strength once again. And an ancient oath sworn across the sea will never release Curufin from it's greedy clutches. Not as long as the silmarils exist. All these images are played back in dreams to Ivy McKee who, in the sweltering summer of 1925 in New York City, has agreed to become an informant against her charismatic employer who is in league with the mob. But there is more at stake than her life. The enigmatic Chauffeur warns her that perhaps her very soul is at risk should she get any closer than necessary to Smith. Ivy soon wonders if she is willing to pay that price.

Across the ages, their passionate yet dangerous bond has remained unbroken. She has known him by many names as Mairon the Admirable, Annatar the Lord of Gifts, as the sinister royal counselor in the last days of Númenor. As a demi-god in disguise, an elite craftsman, and a Dark Lord, she has known Sauron in every incarnation. And he has found her again across time and space in our modern world. New York City in the year 1925, Sauron seeks the maiden who has been his shadow since the beginning where she has been reborn, ignorant of her past. But someone else is searching for her as well to keep an oath he swore before Eru Ilúvatar, a promise to protect and save her from destruction.