Silver Elite

Cross claims his mother has schizophrenia, denying any allegations that Vinessa is an Aberrant because her veins don’t turn silver. Wren cannot explain that this doesn’t rule out the possibility without revealing that she herself is an Aberrant whose veins do not turn silver. Vinessa’s condition explains why the house is empty of servants and why the General keeps Vinessa away from the public eye. Cross and Wren make soup for Vinessa. Her latest episodes have made her unwilling to eat for the past two days. While Cross feeds his mother, Wren regards the room. She notices an oil painting on the wall depicting a cove near the sea. Wren realizes that the painting looks exactly like the view Wolf has always described when they speak.

For days following the visit to Cross’s family home, Wren obsesses over the possibility that he might be Wolf and brainstorms how to achieve confirmation of this without risking revealing herself. When Wren visits Cross’s quarters, they have sex, and it is the first time she allows herself to be vulnerable enough to meet his eyes. While he holds her afterward, Wren seizes the opportunity to discover whether he’s Wolf by claiming that she has recurring nightmares. She describes the drowning dream Wolf has described to her in the past, shocking Cross, who pulls a blade and raises it to her throat.

Cross demands to know who Wren is and where she heard that story, but all she can do is laugh. She admits she’s Daisy, and they confirm their identities by opening their link to communicate. Cross reveals that he only has the ability of telepathy, and his Mod powers aren’t very strong. Though he is being truthful with her, Wren is still uncertain she can fully trust him. She claims to have only the power of telepathy and insists that she wasn’t the inciter at Jim’s execution. However, she does admit that she knew Jim was Aberrant and that she has recently begun working for the Uprising during her time at the Program. Wren shares her suspicion that his mother is Modified, revealing that her own veins don’t turn silver when she uses her power. Neither do Cross’s. Cross asks Wren not to tell the Uprising that he’s Modified because if the information leaks, his father will kill him.

Cross receives an emergency alert about an Uprising fighter jet crashing near a Silver Block weapons depot. They take two B-8 bomber jets for their op and split into two teams. Cross, Ford, and Wren take one while Struck, Kaine, and Jones take the other. Upon arrival, Wren’s team searches the forest surrounding the weapons warehouse for signs of life around the crash site, while Kaine’s group follows a trail of blood toward the main building.

An explosion is heard in the distance, and Wren, Cross, and Ford race back to the depot to find it burning. None of their comrades respond to comms. A second explosion occurs, and though Wren and Ford are desperate to check for survivors, Cross grimly states no one could have survived the blasts. When they return to their aircrafts, they find only one remaining. They realize that the initial crash and the explosion were meant to distract them while the Uprising stole one of their most advanced bomber jets. Cross orders Ford to check the perimeter and telepathically asks Wren if she knew what the Uprising was planning. Wren is offended that he suspects her involvement, given that the explosion killed Kaine—one of her best friends. The funerals are held two days later, and Wren cries over her lost friend. Wren contacts Adrienne and complains about not being informed. Adrienne claims she was not needed for the mission and therefore wasn’t required to know.

Wren visits Cross’s quarters, where she decides to tell him the full truth about herself. She reveals that her parents died serving the Uprising, and she was smuggled out of the Point when she was five years old. She was taken to the Blacklands, where she and her caretakers lived in darkness for three years before they returned to civilization. They settled in Ward Z where they worked as ranchers for the past 12 years. She knew Jim was Aberrant, and she joined the Uprising during the Program. She also reveals that she has four abilities—telepathy, projection, mind reading, and inciting. She tells him that she had a bloodmark due to her immense power, but her uncle burned it off of her. However, she just went to Ellis—who she’s recently learned works for the Uprising too—to get her burns healed. She shows Cross the healed hip where her bloodmark now shows again. Finally, she reveals that she did not know about the ambush that killed Kaine, Struck, and Jones. Cross believes her, and they express mutual love for each other. Later, they discuss the upcoming Silver Jubilee celebration. Wren knows the Uprising has something planned, but he isn’t sure what. When Wren later meets with Lyddie, she learns that Colonel Travis Redden might be planning to replace Cross as leader of the Elite.

Adrienne contacts Wren with instructions to gather a package. On the day of the Jubilee, Wren is to set explosives in the caterers’ quarters—a supply room near the kitchen. As she is setting them, Wren is interrupted by Jayde Valence, who has had a vision of Wren’s actions that evening. Jayde attempts to pry into Wren’s mind but finds little she doesn’t already know now; she knows Wren is a powerful Mod working for the Uprising. When Wren finds no other avenue of escape, she uses incitement to force Jayde to shoot herself in the head with her own gun.

Wren telepathically calls for Cross, who promises to clean up the mess and fabricate a cover story. He calls Xavier Ford for help, and Wren concludes from this that Ford is trustworthy. Cross convinces Wren to return to her rooms and get ready for the Jubilee as if nothing has happened. Lyddie enters Wren’s rooms while she is in a state of undress, and the situation dissolves into chaos when she spots the bloodmark on Wren’s hip and learns she is a Mod. Wren lies, claiming that both the General and Cross know about her powers and are using her to work against the Uprising. She is an undercover loyalist, which is why she doesn’t have tattoos. When Ivy comes from across the hall to question the commotion, Lyddie immediately spills Wren’s secrets. Wren tells the same story to Ivy and desperately hopes the trust she’s earned with them throughout the Program will keep them quiet for the night. She plans to inform Cross that he must share this story with Silver Block the following day.

Wren attends the Jubilee, where she telepathically communicates with Cross, informing him of the new developments with Lyddie and Ivy. She insists he share this story with Silver Block tomorrow to attempt damage control. During the General’s speech at the banquet, he becomes increasingly nonsensical. Wren spots Adrienne in attendance and notices that she is intensely concentrated on the General; Wren begins to suspect that Adrienne possesses some unheard-of psychic ability capable of fracturing minds. Eventually, the general is interrupted by an explosion.

In the chaos of the explosion, Wren finds Adrienne, who is exhausted from her efforts on the General. As Wren helps Adrienne escape the room, Adrienne reveals that she has the ability to rewire minds. This talent is rarer even than incitement. After Adrienne is loaded into a black car and taken away, Wren attempts to return to the wreckage but is intercepted by Roe, who has learned from Lyddie that Wren is a Mod. Roe orders Wren to be taken to the stockade, where she waits for hours until Cross can contact her. During that time, she agonizes over Lyddie’s betrayal. Cross telepathically reveals that his father’s mind is completely damaged; Wren’s execution is scheduled for tomorrow morning; Travis has been appointed General by the Tribunal; and war has been declared on all known Mods. Travis’s declaration of war gives a solid cover story for Jayde’s death; Cross spins the story that she took her own life rather than be executed by the Command.

Adrienne manages to contact Wren when her powers recharge. She claims the network does not have the resources to rescue Wren from the stockade, but if she can manage to escape herself, she has an invite to Dagger—the secret Uprising base located beyond the Blacklands. Though Adrienne claims no one can pass through the Blacklands on foot, Wren is certain she can.

Cross helps Wren escape the stockade, and she is smuggled out of the base with the help of Xavier Ford. Wren has a new theory about Cross’s mother, which she shares with him on their drive to the Blacklands; she believes his mom isn’t a Mod but rather had her mind corrupted by the Uprising. When they reach the Blacklands, Cross informs Wren that he will be staying behind to keep his brothers in check. He’s hoping he can persuade them to show mercy against Mods. Ford has promised to accompany Wren to the Dagger base and keep her safe.

Ford, whom Wren begins calling by his first name, Xavier, is overconfident in the Blacklands. She constantly must warn him to be careful for unknown dangers. She is proven correct when he nearly steps in quicksand and they’re nearly mauled by a red cougar. After several hours, they reach a familiar clearing. It is the pocket of sunlight Wren and Jim lived in during their few years in the Blacklands. They settle into the small wooden shack for the night. Inside, Wren finds a note addressed to her from Jim and decides to read it once Xavier goes to sleep.

The letter reveals that Wren is Stella Hess, the daughter of Marina Serrano and Jake Hess. He reveals that her parents coordinated the bombing of Valterra Ridge; they are traitors to the Uprising and responsible for the loss of countless Modified lives. Wren is shocked and a bit devastated by the news that her parents aren’t who she thought they were, and she throws the letter into the fire.

During the few remaining days of traveling through the Blacklands, Wren and Xavier become better acquainted. He has accepted the news that she and Cross are Mods with surprise but without judgment. Wren learns that Xavier cared about Struck but wasn’t in love with her. She also learns that he’s never been in love before. When they emerge from the Blacklands, Wren sends projects an image of her surroundings to Adrienne, who sends a squad to retrieve them. Wren gives Xavier one last chance to turn around and return to Cross, but Xavier refuses, intent on fulfilling his promise of keeping her safe. Wren is shocked when Kaine is among the squad. When he is called by the name Grayson Blake, she realizes he is the famously talented Uprising pilot everyone speaks of. Realizing that Kaine works for the Uprising and was in on the plot that killed Struck, Xavier attacks Kaine. He is pulled off and restrained by the other Mods in the squad despite Wren’s protests. Kaine states that Adrienne and the ruling Authority will decide how to proceed with Xavier. They all board the helicopter and travel for Dagger.