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At the heart of the Concord, unrest is festering. Unrecognized by the ruling class of the Elite, an undercurrent of rebellion is surging through the enslaved Bond class. It's a threat that could bring down all of civilization, creating a third Dark Age.

Lord Alexand, first born of the House of DeKoven Woolf, stands to inherit a vast industrial empire, along with a seat on the Directorate, the Concord's ruling body. But he sees the writing on the wall and realizes that if the Bonds explode into total rebellion, there will be nothing left to inherit, and the toll in human suffering will be beyond calculation. He makes a terrible choice then: he chooses to "die" and join the Society of the Phoenix, a clandestine organization whose existence is known to only a few Directorate Lords, who consider membership treason and punishable by death.

After forfeiting his identity as heir to the House of DeKoven Woolf, Lord Alexand morphs into Alex Ransom, leader of the Society of the Phoenix and sworn to bring about the evolution of the Concord in order to prevent its threatened collapse.

But his birthright isn't all Alex lost when Lord Alexand died; he gave up the extraordinary Lady Adrien Eliseer, and it was like tearing out his own heart. He ultimately realizes that as desperate as he is to bring peace to the Concord, he is equally desperate to be reunited with Adrien, especially when he learns that she is about to pay a terrible price for Lord Alexand's death.

In an empire on the brink of implosion, the Society of the Phoenix is the only alternative to catastrophe. Yet it is regarded by the rulers of the Concord as treasonable and a greater threat than the ominous rumblings of a Bond uprising. The Phoenix is led by Alex Ransom, once the first born of the House of DeKoven Woolf, but Commander Ransom now lies in an underground infirmary, critically wounded and comatose after a vital foray into Concord territory.

But the mission of the Phoenix remains steadfast, and a new leader emerges: Jael the Outsider. Meanwhile, one of the original founders of the Phoenix, Dr. Erica Radek, fights for Ransom's life as hard as she fights for the survival of the Concord. Erica also has a third mission: to find Lady Adrien Eliseer, who has vanished without a trace from the Two Systems. Erica knows that Adrien is the key to Alex's survival.

As war looms, the Concord must face the Phoenix, and only one will rise from the ashes.