Orphan Esta is a talented thief. Raised in 21^st century Manhattan by a mysterious Professor, she steals valuable artefacts for his collection.

Old magic runs through her veins. A Mageus with an affinity for time, Esta can travel into the past using Ishtar’s Key, an opal-like stone set into an arm cuff. The stone is one of five, and together they are the source of power for the Order of Ortus Aurea, a powerful organisation determined to eradicate natural magic and use elemental magic in its place.

The Order created the Brink, an invisible barrier surrounding Manhattan that allows Mageus to enter, but will destroy their affinity if they cross it to leave, thus trapping them in the city. Professor Lachlan wants to eliminate the Brink, but to achieve that, he needs a book; an ancient magical tome called the Ars Arcana.

Trained to take down the Order, Esta must keep her power hidden from them, like all Mageus, for fear of being exterminated. But when a simple job in the 1920s goes wrong, Esta returns home to discover the consequences of her mistake. Ishtar’s Key has a crack, and her present has altered for the worse. Her only hope of fixing it is travelling further back and completing her most perilous mission yet.

The Professor sends her to the era when the Order was most powerful, with instructions to join the crew that breaks into the Order’s vault to steal the stones. Then she must take the Ars Arcana.

But when she travels to 1902, Ishtar’s Key is damaged beyond repair. Trapped in the past in a dangerous city, she has no choice but to continue with the Professor’s plan. An earlier Ishtar’s key exists in this year, but it is locked away with the other artefacts, including the book the Professor sent her to retrieve. Can she infiltrate the team and swipe the artefacts for herself? Her future depends upon it.

Full of deception and intrigue, this magical time travel novel twists its way through the depths of early 20th century New York with an urgency that makes it very difficult to put down.