CC Leval is like many other lower caste orphans: poor, worked at a brothel, and has fallen in love with a man above her status. To her shock, Cerrick Thadious loves her back. But, he has no idea CC exists because he has fallen for a biological robot, a Companion, that he believes is a real person. The same Companion CC was hired to manage and keep watch over the suicidal, privileged man.

If she is found inhabiting a Companion, she will be jailed. If Cerrick finds her out, she will lose him. If she quits, she will be fed to a tiger (literally). To make matters worse, CC is not so sure the Companions are as unaware as their makers have led them to believe. All the while, the island of AraShon shakes beneath their feet. Foreboding, the future is far more dangerous than heartbreak.