Disgraced ex-Delta operator Jarek Voss and brilliant tactician Elias Kane are desperate. Their last mission ended in catastrophe, their careers in ruin. When an enigmatic fixer offers them a fortune to retrieve an ancient Persian map, they seize the chance for redemption, plunging them into a world of ruthless mercenaries and shadowy organizations.

But the map leads to something far more terrifying: the Crown of Xerxes, an artifact of immense power that corrupts all it touches. As Jarek succumbs to its dark allure, transforming into a terrifying force of destruction, Elias must ally with a hardened ex-Spetsnaz operative, Anya Volkov, who carries her own dark secrets about the Crown's unholy nature. From the desolate mountains of Zalakar to the glittering auctions of Monaco, they race against time and an ancient, fanatical order to prevent the Crown, or its last fragment, from unleashing an age of unimaginable horror upon the world. Power demands a soul. Some sacrifices can never be undone.