Rome, 1952. Like all of Europe, Spanish architect JosÔe MarÔia struggles to recover from the chaos of the past 15 years. Then one day he learns about the mysterious death by decapitation of an old acquaintance. Memories rush back, and the story moves back in time to 1937. Fascism is on the rise. JosÔe and his wife Montse wait out the Spanish Civil War at the Spanish Academy in Rome. When they sell an ancient text found in the Academy's forgotten archive, they become embroiled in a Nazi plot to collect mystical artifacts for the practice of the black arts.