In 1897 part-automaton Mila seeks an independent life in London's West End while Finley Jane plunges headlong into the Aether, hoping to outmaneuver the Machinist who has taken Griffin King captive.

When Emily is kidnapped and ordered to transplant the Machinist's consciousness into one of his creations, Finley Jayne and her friends are forced to work with Jack Dandy, who compels Finley to evaluate her feelings for Griffin.

Fifteen-year-old Josh has chosen to side neither with his twin sister Sophie nor with the Alchemyst, Nicholas Flamel, but rather to fight alongside Dr. John Dee and the mysterious Virginia Dare, while the immortal Machiavelli and Billy the Kid follow the Elders' plans to set loose the monsters of Alcatraz on San Francisco and trigger the end of the humani race.

Sixteen-year-old Finley, a lady's maid in 1897 England, is forced to leave another job when the dark "thing" inside her knocks out her employer's son. She is taken in by Griffin King, the orphaned Duke of Greythorne, who sees the magical darkness inside Finley and enlists her to join his little group of misfits in a quest to bring down the mastermind behind a rash of crimes committed by automatons. Includes the first appearance of Finley in "The Strange...