Ripped away from Whipplehouse and the only family she had ever known, Lydia ekes out a living in the barren wasteland of Oregon as a prisoner of a family who never loved her. When Parker finds her at the county fair, Lydia can hardly believe her luck as she agrees to travel through time with the boy she once loved. They finally settle in the mysterious land of Elestra, a world like their own with magical powers, steam-powered devices, and even dragons. Abruptly left to her own devices on the shores of Sea City, Lydia embarks on a dangerous adventure with fast cars, accompanied by the infamous and quite exiled pirate-turned-mechanic Matthias Cross. When the tables turn and she begins to see Parker for who he really is, how can she escape the darkness buried in his heart? What will become of Lydia now that she knows there are more worlds than these?

Saved from the streets by the mysterious George Whipple, Parker and Lydia grew up in the Whipplehouse Orphanage. After being fitted with a magical monocle, Parker finds he has the ability to stop time. With his new power, he spends his days tinkering and inventing intricate doodads. Life is grand until the night Elias comes to town. Parker's life is turned upside down when tragedy stikes on the night of the winter solstice of his 18th year. He risks losing the one thing he loves Lydia. But will his newfound power be able to find her? And what about the perplexing machine in the cellar workshop?