Strange things are happening in Manhattan. Well, stranger than normal anyway. Demons, who rarely work together or bother to plan anything except their next meal, have moved into town and are looking for a source of game changing magic.

The Powers That Be, managers and masters of all things supernatural, have decided Johnny Kilkenny needs to find out what they want. Even though ten years ago this very group that now demands his help stuck Johnny in New York and said 'sit boy, stay.' And he has done just that, avoiding attention, attachments, and work whenever possible.

Most folks don't like or trust Soul Binders to begin with. Johnny's kind can take a stroll inside a soul and shape and sculpt it as they see fit. They can mess around and manipulate it until they get what they want, or just start rearranging the furniture to see what happens. It's no wonder Johnny has spent the vast majority of his life on the run. But they caught him, eventually, and now he has to serve. Or end up like every other member of his kind, either dead, imprisoned, or insane...or some mixture of the three.

In Manhattan, Johnny has played the negotiator and deal maker. Keeping the peace, for a price, instead of making trouble. All managed and arranged by the resident underworld boss, who also has a job for him to do.

Tack on a series of random earthquakes shaking up the city, that no one seems to be admitting are earthquakes, but might sink the city regardless of everyone's opinion, and Johnny's life of relative anonymity has suddenly become... considerably less avoidable.

Johnny will have to push aside his life on the fringe and use every trick in his Soul Binder book to lie, con, manipulate, and force his way to some answers. And if he is very lucky, and if everyone is feeling generous, he might even get to keep his head afterwards.

So much for keeping a low profile...