Generation after generation, an unattached male is plucked from the same family line and sent to the home of the man they only know as Dhakir. It is a duty all men in the line are brought up knowing, but none can know which male will be called or when.

Twenty-six-year-old Hadi Rahal is plucked from his fast-paced life among the brilliant lights and shallow vanity of Milan's fashion world when he is told his uncle has passed on and he is the next Keeper. Knowing only vague legend, Hadi travels to Sétif, Algeria where his heritage waits in the form of an ancient name and sorrowful eyes he cannot turn from, even as he prays to God for the fortitude to resist.