In the slums of BrightStone, Moon Children are worth less than the scrap
they collect to survive. It doesn't matter that these abandoned
half-breeds are part-Meridian with their ancestors hailing from the
technologically advanced wonder that floats above the once-thriving, now
plague-ridden city. Instead they are rejected by both societies and
forced to live on the outskirts of civilization, joining clans simply to
stay alive. Not to mention their role as Tithe, leading the city's
infected citizens deep into the Pits where their disease can be
controlled. Nineteen-year-old Raggy Maggy is no different, despite the
mysterious heart-shaped panel welded to her chest. Or she wasn't, until
her chance discovery of a Meridian-built clockwork dragon--and its
murdered owner. When the Inquestors policing the city find Maggy at the
scene of the crime, she becomes their prime suspect. An exiled doctor
and a clanless Moon Child named Ghost keep her hidden; all she has to do
is help them find a cure to the plague they believe was not accidental.
Doing so might risk more than her life--but it might be the key to
uncovering the truth about the parents, and the past, she knows nothing
about.