Consulting on the investigation into a lord's murder, botanist Lucinda Bromley realizes that a poison can be traced back to her, prompting her to hire fellow Arcane Society member Caleb Jones to keep her name out of the investigation and to find the murderer.

Leona Hewitt, disguised as a man, makes her way into Lord Delbridge's museum to recover a crystal stolen from her family, but Thaddeus Ware, a mesmerist on assignment for the secretive Arcane society, is on the same errand.

Sylvester Jones and Nicholas Winters, founders of the Arcane Society, each sought to enhance their individual psychic talents. Winters' efforts led to the creation of a device called the Burning Lamp. Each generation the Winters man who inherits it is destined to develop multiple talents and the curse of madness. Now, plagued by hallucinations and nightmares, notorious crime lord Griffin Winters is convinced he has been struck with the Winters Curse...