After being hunted down and nearly killed by two men he never met, Patrick finds himself in a worse predicament. It's the night of his sixteenth birthday, the night the Watcher said he would finally learn the truth. In the basement of a safe house, Patrick's worst fear comes to life: the Devil is real. He appears before Patrick and reveals their connection. When the teenager's mother tried to commit suicide before he was born, the Devil intervened and gave her back her life, and for doing so, she gave him a son: Patrick Scott McKinley.

Now Lucifer has returned to fulfill an ancient prophecy. According to it, two sons of the Devil will rise up, one to destroy the faithful children of God, and the other to stop Judgment Day. Satan offers Patrick the father's love he never had and a place by his side. In exchange, he asks only that Patrick help him. The teenager possesses a divine secret so profound, it has the power Lucifer needs to win his war against the hosts of heaven. If he agrees to do his part, Patrick will be able to save his mother's soul from eternal damnation. As much as he wants to save her, Patrick refuses to go along, and runs away. The Devil's words echo in his mind, reminding him there is no escape from his destiny. 

On the run, Patrick is hit by a car, ending one life and beginning another. He is reborn into the world of Acia, an ancient civilization.

After a long absence, the Watcher reappears in a dream. At once, Patrick's memories return, and he is left with a difficult decision: stay in Acia or go home. The Watcher knows a way back to the modern world, and if the youth wants to get there, he must travel halfway across the world to meet him. Patrick doesn't know what to do. He's seen visions of his mother suffering, crying for her only son.

Patrick begins a perilous journey at the behest of Joriah, accompanied by his closest friends. The journey inches him closer to where the Watcher told him to go. Along the way, Patrick meets the daughter of an aristocrat, a young lady named Mina, and falls in love. As much as he wants to stay, he can't. He's made a promise. But he vows to return to his beloved.

Patrick ends up lost in the wilds of a forested land called Darkforth, separated from his friends. Injured, and with nowhere else to go, he seeks out the portal to his world. The Watcher is waiting for him. As agreed, Patrick is whisked away to his hometown. But everything he imagined is a lie. His mother is dead, his life forgotten. There is nothing left for him there, and there is no way back. He feels angry and betrayed.

Patrick travels to New York City on a hunch. If he's right, he will find the man who has haunted his dreams: his half-brother, the Devil's other son. Patrick doesn't understand his desire to find him, but it is something he must do. What he doesn't know is that his brother is already expecting him, and the Devil, too.

The story concludes with Destiny, book two of the Chosen One.