They steal people; farm them in the bowels of the earth like cattle, leaving little hope for humanity to survive. Against the odds, Althea fights to stay alive, and in the process, finds an undesirable named Loki to help her before it's too late. Picture human life with no more value than domestic cattle. Then imagine finding your life partner in that setting. This story has two main characters. The first is Loki, a non-human healer. He's made the mistake of his life, and now must pay, unjustly sentenced to prison for protecting the honor of his sister. Out in the universe where Loki comes from, he is viewed as an undesirable. He belongs to a misunderstood species, an outcast forbidden to take a mate. Also, a one-of-a-kind being, he is so rare he is feared by most, and revered by others. When Loki joins prison life, he expects it to be cruel, his freedom curtailed, but he is totally unprepared for the sideline enterprise the warden inside has established. Our second character is Althea. She is an average human woman struggling to make ends meet in today's society, living alone, neglected by family, who consider their own problems more important than maintaining relationships. When Althea makes a mistake that has unexpected results, she is thrown into Loki's ugly new prison world. As her children follow suit with bad judgment of their own, the results impact all in most unusual ways. Reader be forewarned: this is not a story for the faint of heart. It was written to mirror attitudes you may not enjoy. It is in memory of the countless little lives lost each year in our world.