Evelyn Marr keeps thirty-nine hourglasses in a house where every grain of sand measures something the world would rather not know. Lives, illnesses, debts, secrets, and endings all leave their mark in glass. When one hourglass shatters before dawn, she knows someone nearby has asked time for a mercy it may not be willing to grant. Then Dorian Ashford arrives in Gloamwick, and Evelyn sees the one future she cannot bear to accept: his death. Dorian is already caught in a web of failing Life Threads, old records, and a powerful inquiry determined to control anyone who can alter the lawful order of time. Evelyn should keep her distance. Instead, the hourglasses pause when he laughs, impossible memories begin surfacing in her own mind, and each choice they make seems to pull the Final Toll closer. Their growing love becomes both refuge and danger as they search forbidden ledgers, hidden gates, and the history behind the magic consuming Dorian's remaining time. Evelyn has spent her life helping others survive what the clocks reveal, but this time knowledge offers no simple cure. Saving Dorian may require breaking rules that protect far more than one life, while accepting fate feels unbearable when every heartbeat beside him makes the future worth fighting for. As the last grains continue to fall, Evelyn must decide how much of tomorrow love is allowed to demand from today.
Evelyn Marr keeps thirty-nine hourglasses in a house where every grain of sand measures something the world would rather not know. Lives, illnesses, debts, secrets, and endings all leave their mark in glass. When one hourglass shatters before dawn, she knows someone nearby has asked time for a me...