The King is tired. He's itching to abdicate in favor of becoming a beach bum. He needs time off before his abuse of the Queen's Bad Word List invites her ire. When the crash of an air car on Union Square propels one of the Guard to force him through a portal, he has the chance to take a few days in Will's birth When to relax, recoup…and hunt the man who tormented his daughter.

Jax wants the dark wizard of Saint Francis dead, and neither Drew nor Wick understands why the Emperor is willing to accommodate his desire to kill someone. Still, going into Saint Francis means time with Shivan, Jeff the Dragon, and Fluffy the Giant Cat, so they follow, pulling along a junior reporter whose quiet confusion and usefulness is questionable, and hope that before the wizard is dead that someone tells them why Jax is so willing to kill, and why neither the Emperor nor the Queen has any intention of stopping him.