Rhea Black lives as a silent outcast in an authoritarian city where vocal speech is strictly regulated by elite inquisitors. Unknown to her oppressors, her muteness is a deliberate defense mechanism: speaking allowed words warps physical reality to her command, yet each spoken phrase tears through her internal organs with excruciating backlash.
When her treacherous aunt sells her location to state executioners, Rhea is forced to break her vow of silence to survive. Caught between fanatical Purifiers and ruthless underground rebels, she must master her devastating vocal gift without destroying her own life, hunting down the masked warlord responsible for her mother's assassination.
