After her brush with the Silver Pharaoh, Verity Fitzroy and the children of the Ministry Seven retreat to London to recover, but adventure always seems to have a way of finding them. With her Uncle Octavius still somewhere out there, Verity is sure the terrifying disappearance of children in the fogs of the capital cannot be a coincidence. The ancient mystery of the Emerald Flame is on the verge of being solved, which will mean an end to life and death as the world has known it. The race is on to find it first, and the winner will hold the fate of the future in their hands. Verity and the Ministry Seven must embrace dark conspiracies, dare mysterious organisations, and question all that they know to secure the secret thousands of years old.