Unmarried at the age of six-and-twenty, Lady Elizabeth "Bits" Warner has become a burden to her family. Therefore, she isn't surprised when they pack her on a train bound for Scotland and a fiancé she has never met. She's not surprised, but she is terrified. In Corrigan, a walled-off city that serves as refuge to those capable of using the aether to cast spells and concoct potions, Ezra Nash is devoted to healing the sick and injured. Between his work as a surgeon and caring for his sisters, he doesn't have time for distractions. When the train Bits is traveling on explodes, she finds herself inside the gates of Corrigan and under Ezra's care. The two are drawn to one another, but it will take more than attraction to overcome the difference in their stations and the secrets they hide from the world.