An excerpt from A Living History: The Modified People describes the bombing of Valterra Ridge, a village of mostly Modified civilians. Two Silver Block squadrons dropped incendiary and high-explosive bombs, killing over 1,400 people and triggering landslides. The assault was planned with assistance from Marina Serrano, a Command colonel working undercover within the Uprising. The text emphasizes the necessity for the Modified to escape the oppressive Prime-led regime.

Xavier proves to be a natural weapons instructor at the range. Wren visits Kallister’s quarters and spends an hour reading about Valterra Ridge. At dinner, Gray reports Roe Redden beat a Mod to death at the Ice Canyon salt mine where Tana is held. Wren pushes for a rescue mission, but Gray explains the difficulties of the extraction; they cannot blow up the mine as it is a crucial resource. Further, none of the mission leads would want Wren on their team.

The next day, Cross contacts Wren. He has had a harrowing time visiting his parents, both of whose minds have been corrupted (though Cross does not know his mother was corrupted and attributes her decline to a mental-health issue). Wren tells him about Roe’s violence, which angers Cross. Their conversation is cut short when they hear a scream.

Wren and Xavier find Poppy cornered by a massive ridgehowler wolf. Wren’s first shot only wounds it. Xavier shields Poppy and is bitten. Wren kills the wolf. They find a pup hiding nearby and realize the mother was defending her young. They agree to leave the pup.

At the medical bay, Fiona is openly distrustful of Xavier but completely heals his arm. Afterward, she thanks him for saving her daughter.

Xavier becomes friends with Poppy. Cross contacts Wren with intel that Travis plans to transfer Modified prisoners from Ice Canyon, meaning many will be killed to reduce numbers so the transfer is manageable. Wren passes the intel to Gray without revealing her source (since no one apart from her knows Cross is a Mod, she hides their telepathic exchanges). Adrienne corroborates the information through her own sources, and an emergency mission is called.

Teriq and Gray announce a high-risk extraction. Saint selects Wren for his five-person team despite Evlynne’s objections. Saint’s team will create a diversion while Teriq’s rescues 42 prisoners. Wren is placed on a decoy squad with Neema and Declan. Just before departure, Teriq announces Cross is on-site.

The team parachutes near Ice Canyon. Wren warns Cross about the assault, and he agrees to help. Her decoy squad rides motorcycles into a supply tunnel to plant charges. Attempting to exit, they discover a force field, supposed to be inactive, is on.

Neema crashes into the field and dies instantly. Wren instinctively incites Declan to jump from his bike, saving his life. Declan is pale and weak, possibly having brushed the field (even a slight contact with a force field can have devastating effects). With their exit blocked, Wren drives Declan back out the way they came. Teriq reports 41 prisoners rescued but one left behind in the prison: Tana Archer.

Refusing to abandon Tana, Wren goes rogue. Pilot Luisa gives Wren 10 minutes to extract Tana. Declan insists on accompanying Wren. Cross telepathically guides Wren to Tana’s cell, having removed the guards, and provides the override code. Wren frees Tana, asks Declan to take her to the aircraft, lying that she needs to set a charge. Once Tana and Declan leave, Cross enters for a brief reunion. They hug and he takes off. Wren makes it to the aircraft seconds before it takes off. On the flight back, Tana realizes a Command officer helped Wren and grows suspicion. At the Dagger, a grieving Evlynne attacks Wren, blaming her for Neema’s death; Saint intervenes, asserting that Neema’s death was no one’s fault.

The Authority reprimands Wren for breaking protocol and delaying the exit of her team to save her best friend. Wren defends her actions, lying that she knew the cell code as Silver Elite toggles the same codes periodically. A furious Gray later confronts her, knowing she lied since the Silver Block codes are unique. The argument escalates until he backs her against a wall, his hand on her chin. Wren feels sexually attracted to Gray but shoves him away, reminding him of his girlfriend.

At breakfast, Xavier explains the force field was likely active because Cross was present on the site A live broadcast from Travis Redden beams in the mess. Travis announces that in retaliation for the sixteen Prime guards killed during the salt mine raid, 16 Modified lives will be taken. Cross telepathically tells Wren he has been detained by his brothers. As the Blue Dagger group watch their screen in horror, a firing squad executes 16 Mod prisoners.

Later, Cross arranges a secret meeting with Wren at a decommissioned airfield, Gray flying her there. Cross asks whether Adrienne corrupted his mother; Wren admits she did. Cross reveals corrupted Primes—including children—have been appearing across the Continent, and that Catherine De Velde of Biotech showed him hospital wards full of them. The deliberate corruption of the Prime suggests the Uprising is as morally compromised as the Company. Cross begs Wren to run away with him.

Wren refuses, unable to abandon her people or the fight. She also remembers that Cross refused to come with her to Blue Dagger when she left Silver Elite. Cross argues the Continent is a “lost cause” and he only wants to be with her. When Wren pleads for him to join the Uprising, he says he will never belong there.

They end their relationship. A heartbroken Wren sobs on the flight back, Gray comforting her. She tells Xavier what happened. Xavier wordlessly takes the bottle of glenshade and begins drinking with her.

Two months pass without contact between Wren and Cross. Ostracized by mission leads, Wren becomes an unofficial marksmanship instructor. She grows closer to Xavier but remains estranged from Tana, who did not want to be rescued. Wren resumes training with Hawkins, successfully making him pick up a knife.

In the gym, Xavier and Henley spar until Evlynne interrupts, furious at henley for engaging with a Prime. Henley retorts that his own parents are Primes, so he does not discriminate It turns out Evlynne is a Severnist, someone who is anti-Prime and believes in the superiority of Mods.

Jakob Hess, a captain in Tin Block, was killed in action at twenty-nine during the Sun Post bombing, posthumously awarded the Command Medal of Valor. His first wife, Cecilia Carpenter, disappeared and was declared dead. His second was Marina Serrano, with whom he had a daughter, Stella.

The next morning, Evlynne apologizes to Wren for her outburst about Neeman and offers Wren a flight to a beautiful remote lagoon. Despite suspicions, Wren accepts. After landing on a ridge overlooking a violet lagoon, Evlynne sends Wren down a narrow path alone. Soon, Wren realizes Evlynne has stranded her and sees the helicopter flying away.