The deeper Jane delves into the Shifting World, the stronger her power to read objects grows. She finds herself facing another trial because of her ability, and this one leads her into more deadly peril than she's ever faced before. Her group is led to their new adventure by an ancient relic of the Shifting World, a pistol with a dark past. That past is revived with Jane's touch, but she unearths more than just visions. She becomes a part of those secrets as they trap her in the emotions of its long-dead memories. Those emotions fall on her lover, Caius, and a dreadful fear rises within her that something terrible will happen to one of them if they continue searching for the answers to the relic. While Jane and her friends find enough trouble with the pistol, they discover they aren't the only ones after its secrets. Soon they're trapped between two warring factions over the fate of the relic and their very lives.