In Renaissance Florence, where angels grant artistic gifts for a price, seventeen-year-old Virgil has already bargained away most of his life to keep his family afloat.
Word that his missing brother is in danger, and that only magic can save him, leaves Virgil with just a few months to act.
He reluctantly allies with Leonardo da Vinci, a brilliant fellow apprentice and Florence's most notorious charmer, to enter the Medici world and learn the truth.
Their path through palaces, cathedrals, and gilded streets uncovers deadly secrets the powerful will do anything to hide.
Drawn to Leonardo even as his time runs short, Virgil is set on exposing those lies, though the cost may be his soul.
