In the walled Diadem City, everyone is on a psychic spectrum, and those with the smallest amount of the gift are bought and sold as Seconds: slaves held captive mind and body by a more powerful psychic. Solara Barthelme, traumatized by an incident a year ago that stole her willpower, has determined to never be enslaved again.

But caring for herself and her paralyzed twin brother Lu in a city that thrives on poverty-stricken workers is only getting harder, and when Lord Faisal, famous for controlling more Seconds than anyone, offers her a deal she can’t refuse, Sol and Lu are whisked away into a life of luxury. There’s only one problem.

Faisal recruited Sol for an impossible mission. His sister has been forcibly taken as Second by Nikara Manfalon, the cruel unofficial princess of the city and the same woman who took control of Sol’s mind a year ago.

Nikara is untouchable, and the only way into her fortress, and to Faisal’s sister, is through Sol’s connection to Nikara’s brother, the equally notorious non-psychic Tessan, who, for reasons Sol cannot fathom, is infatuated with her. All Sol wants is to protect her family, but she is inextricably linked to Faisal and unfinished business for Nikara.

Surrounded by power and unable to trust her own thoughts, Sol must navigate this bizarre new world where kindness is weakness, love is a weapon, and the consequence for losing the game is death, or worse. .