On the wake of a horrific Defective attack, Ella Blakely is propelled forward again into a whole new world. Her Cream family seeks refuge in the Central Community under the protection of her arranged fiancé and future President of the Protectorate, Theo Reynolds. Ella doesn’t even have time to figure out what clicked on within her when she faced a Defective inside her war-torn Community, nor does she know if she can control it. Instead, she must stuff it deep down inside her and focus on more pressing matters.

Now she must play both sides of the game better than ever before. Ella is thrown in with Theo, making the rounds to save face for the Protectorate, and at the same time, she must devise a plan to help Jake escape before his treasonous sentence is carried out. At night, she is plagued with the person tucked away inside her mind. Is it the answer to the question that has gnawed at her these few months: Where do Defectives come from? It only makes sense that Defectives still roam the Outskirts because they were once like her. Is she destined to let the beast inside free? Will she become like the monsters that killed so many of her people that night of the attack? More then this, Ella must finally choose sides when her two worlds meet face to face. Does she belong with Jake, fighting those that oppress, no matter the cost? Will she stand with Theo who strives to create peace from the inside?