Crispin Herrick, the newly minted Duke of Litton is anxiously awaiting his first mission as a King's agent. Until then, a dig in the King's Valley he's sponsoring occupies his time… until he chases down a criminal at the Antiquities Museum. Once he catches her, he's shocked and delighted to discover she's the same woman he flirted with in London a year ago, but now she's as skilled in lying as she is in keeping secrets.

Miss Juliana Barrington lives under an assumed identity in Cairo, exiled there when her last mission for the Crown went catastrophically awry. All she wants is to redeem herself by finding a powerful relic before her enemies can, but when her path crosses that of the handsome ex-pawn broker, she can't help but panic. No matter how her heart twinges, mixing desire with duty is a horrible idea. Crispin and Juliana join forces to find the pieces of the Staff of the Gods, allegedly belonging to Moses himself. Danger dogs their footsteps while romance flickers to life as the days go by, and when the trail leads to a mysterious tomb in the Valley of the Kings, treasure hunting evolves into running for their lives. Staying ahead of disaster is critical; evildoers and death are powerful foes, but hard-fought victory might bring happy endings… if they can survive long enough.