Two apparently unrelated events, the gruesome murder of two seminarians and strong evidence of paranormal phenomena surrounding a Corsican nun, quickly unfold into a fast-paced story of murder, baroque intrigue, and apocalyptic prophesies. At the center of the maelstrom lies the most deeply guarded secrets of the Roman Catholic Church, the existence of two relics capable of changing the destinies of humanity. Two cardinals and a Jesuit priest engage in a titanic struggle to possess the relics. Such a contest can only end in the death of one or all. Center to the plot an old enmity between the cardinals, the honorable JEAN CLAUDE GUILLOT, the Vatican Secretary of State, and his malignant counterpart and erstwhile friend, the repulsive MARKUS WETEN. But Guillot holds the trump card in the person of NICOLAS MARCH, the Catholic Church foremost exorcist.