Tess Mathers wishes that her mind would simply stop recording the horrors that she witnessed after the city where she studied was blown to bits. Running through the nearby hills may have saved her life, but nothing short of a miracle would save her sanity. Taken from the planet as the spoils of war, Tess hopes that her end is quick. Life at the fighting pit is harsh, brutal and usually short. Hiding inside her mind is her means of survival until the day she is thrown into a black cell and given to one of the fighters. The next day she remembers nothing, a frustration to her captors, but the next night she is sent back and once again he holds her enthralled.