Dicky's a Godless soul and he likes it that way. He scrapes out a living in his undergound world of The Colony by stealing scraps and cheating the automated systems. But even a Thief has a conscience, so when Dicky sees a kid in trouble, instincts propel him into action. The Kid introduces Dicky to a world he never knew existedand a woman he could only imagine in his wildest dreams.
Leah hasn't got much of a life in The Colony because conformance to the rules has never been her forteas her family has pointed out at every turn. Her only escape has been helping to care for Itzick, the sole surviving son of an important elderly couple. Itzick is far more than just the end of a family line, though, and Leah is one of the few who knows the truth about the Kid.
When another cave-in brings the walls crashing down, Leah's own brother disowns her as dead weight and she finally decides she's had enough, to. But she can't leave without Itzick. The Kid's been taken in by a Thief, so Leah must enter a world she'd only seen from a distance and come out again without losing her heart to a lost soul named Dicky.