Sneaker is a Soul Retriever hired to go into Hell and find souls sent down by mistake and get them to Heaven Gate. When she learns that her friend Slip is trapped in Hell with a retrieved soul, she does not hesitate to go to Hell with the aim to rescue her.

Slip loses an arm to a huge centipede demon. With other injuries her survival is questionable. Time is now running out. If she dies in Hell, her soul will be trapped there forever. Sneaker, Slip and Nandi, the retrieved soul, fight their way to temporary safety where Sneaker steals hot coals from under demon noses in order to cauterize Slip's wound.

Through the Nexus, Hell's transit system, they must fight again to gain the Swizzel Styx Bar and Marina. Slip is dying, they all know that. They barely make Charon's Ferry back across the Styx. There, only a few hundred yards from the saftey of Heaven Gate, the newly damned may still prevent Slip's soul from reaching safety through the Gate. And Sneaker may not be able stop them.

But Sneaker is a very good friend to have.