One wrong move, and everything burns.

Nineteen-year-old Max was born cursed. After the Fallen claimed dominion over the earth, Max was one of the few Tainted individuals who were allowed sanctuary in one of the small underground units of the Resistance. But since she’s only one stage away from losing herself to bloodlust, she knows the Resistance is counting down to the day when she becomes too dangerous to keep alive.

On the eve of her twentieth birthday, she attempts the only thing that might spare her life—defecting to the surface above. However, when her escape attempt goes awry, her world is broken open as she encounters something impossible: A holy angel, one of the good guys, long thought extinct. The encounter stabilizes Max’s curse and abruptly shifts her value within the Resistance.

Rather than being executed, Max is given a single chance at survival by going undercover in enemy territory. Success means protecting Alex, her best friend and the love she’s never allowed herself to claim. Failure means death.

After years of being ostracized and used as a tool, Max becomes the linchpin for the future of humankind—Tainted and untainted alike.