It always started like this, a pulse inside me, like a warning before the tide surged, roared . . . and froze everything. Twenty-year old Emma just landed in Rome, to find the father who walked out of her life more than a decade ago and was too busy eating pizza to call. Traveling with her is a secret she's carried alone since childhood: sometimes, around her, time stops. People and cars freeze, rain hangs still in the air and there's only her left in the silence. To make things worse, instead of her dad, Em runs into a past she'd rather forget in the person of Lily, her step-sis. Kind, beautiful, Harvard honors student Lily: the perfect daughter Em never was. As the two of them reconnect, Em starts to pick up some creepy vibes from Katharos, the mysterious archaeological foundation Lily works for--and more specifically the ancient stone table they're digging up near the coliseum . . . Faust, the blind hobo Em keeps running into, might be the key to piercing Katharos's secrets. Actually, he might even have something to do with that pesky time-freezing thing. With Lily's life on the line and no one else to turn to, Em chooses to trust this unlikely ally, but behind his charming smile and lunar antics, the guy comes with some serious fine print . . . Contains mature themes.