The only things Tessa and Grady have in common are their school classes, or so it seems. Seventeen-year-old Tessa is the kindhearted daughter of the village baker who longs to be able to express her faith beyond the four walls of her home. She is determined to find a way to have the Silentium Directive overturned and find freedom for herself and her neighbors in Cadence. Grady, a few years older than Tessa, has lived his whole life cut off from other people simply because of who his mother is, a Center Pointe official and currently the mayor of Cadence.

When Grady's uncle Hugo unearths an ancient text, both Grady's and Tessa's families become entangled in a centuries-old government plot to stifle the faith of every believer in their nation.

Will Tessa find the freedom she has sought, or will her self-righteousness betray her? Will Grady discover who he really is beyond his present introvert condition? And will they find out they have more in common than they could ever imagine?