In the soot-choked alleys of Seattle, a gold watch is worth more than a human life, and Vespera is the finest thief the shadows have ever known. But when she is bought by the mysterious Architect and delivered to the Isle of Mists, she finds herself trapped in a world where the very tide ticks with the rhythm of gears.
Her mark: Isolene, a hauntingly beautiful heiress who believes she is the keeper of her uncle's mechanical collection. In reality, she is the collection, a girl being slowly replaced by the silver and porcelain she studies. To survive, Vespera must navigate a cathedral of wood and iron where the dolls mimic grief and the uncle seeks to perfect the human soul through geometry.
But in a house where nothing happens unless the gears allow it, Vespera is forced to choose: unlock the vault or save the girl. When the clock finally strikes midnight, will she be the puppet or the one who breaks the spring?
