Lauren Palmer has pieced her life back together after its destruction almost a decade ago during the aftermath of the Revelation, a population-controlling assault that left her small town razed and her family assumed dead. She now calls a regimented but cozy encampment deep in the woods of North Carolina her substitute home. Here, she is hidden far from the oppressive society known as the Trinity of the First Families, who commenced their reign of terror by splitting the planet into thirds to form a new world order. The Trinity's network of oppression stretches from ocean to ocean, but Lauren still dares to hope the horrors of her past are finally at rest. until she finds Max. Maxwell Miller, Lauren's childhood best friend, vanished months before the Revelation. Years later, he is discovered less than a mile from Lauren's camp, beaten and near-death, with no recollection of how he got there. or of his identity.

As Max grows closer to Lauren - and to the truth of his lineage-he will have to decide between what his military-savvy brain tells him is his duty, and what his heart tells him is his future. Lauren holds onto the secret of she and Max's connection, yearning to confess what he can't yet remember, but can he be trusted? While Max wages war against himself between honoring his promises and following his heart, Lauren must also decide what comes first - love or duty.