Broken Dove by Dani Francis

Here is a summary with spoilers for Broken Dove by Dani Francis 

Cross begins the story imprisoned in a cell he personally designed, being tortured by his own brother Roe. Just a week ago he was a respected captain, now he is seen as a traitor by his own family and his people. Throughout his imprisonment, Cross remains focused on Wren. Through their telepathic connection, he continues to reach for her, wanting to make sure she is ok. He refuses to tell her what has happened to him.

At the same time, Wren recently has fled for her life, and she also discovered a letter that completely changed her understanding of her family. The letter reveals the truth about her parents and their role as the Tin Block Traitors. The heroic image she had carried of them is destroyed, forcing her to confront the reality of their actions. As she is transported to the Dagger rebel base with Xavier (Cross’s best friend), she reflects on years spent hiding her powers, concealing her bloodmark, and living under false assumptions about her past. The revelations leave her questioning her identity and not knowing how her time at the Dagger is going to go, especially with the new revelation about her parents being traitors to the rebellion.

Upon arriving at Dagger, she is reunited with Gray, the pilot she once had a love affair with and thought was dead. She and Gray share a room while Xavier is sent to a prison because they aren’t sure if they can trust him. Gray shares everything with Cross, but notices that he seems slightly off. She meets important figures, including Kallister, the twin brother of her deceased uncle (Uncle Jim), and members of the rebel leadership.

Wren soon undergoes Disclosure, a process requiring Mods to reveal their abilities to rebel leadership. During this examination, her powers are exposed in full. She possesses the rare abilities of mind reading, projection, and incitement. The revelation creates immediate tension. Some leaders see her as a valuable asset while others fear what she is capable of becoming. Incitement, in particular, carries a dangerous reputation because it allows her to influence the thoughts and actions of others. Gray tries to tell them that she has never been able to use the incitement, only a few times and by accident. She has had no such training. As a result, Wren becomes both indispensable and distrusted within the organization. They also make her swear that she won’t share anything about the Dagger.

Life at Dagger is dominated by training, political maneuvering, and attempts to establish loyalty. She eventually finds out about Cross being in prison. He spent a week there but has now been released and needs to prove himself again. Wren works to gain acceptance while Xavier remains imprisoned and under suspicion. She visits him often in prison. She rekindles her friendship with Gray, who she realizes is a player with the ladies. They are constantly trying to get to him, and he has gone through a lot, though at the moment he is with one. She gradually develops stronger relationships with Gray, Poppy, and Kallister while continuing to communicate with Cross. She visits Kallister’s office to learn more about her parents in some documents that he has. She also starts training with Hawkins, one of the only other inciters in the Dagger. It is brutal training, especially because he is not a well-liked person and she struggles with the power anyway. She also learns that he accidentally incited his girlfriend off a cliff, killing her. Despite being separated by war and opposing allegiances, Wren finds a way to go back into the city during a mission with Gray. She is able to find Cross, and the two are able to have a quick reunion where they are able to kiss and feel connected again.

Wren gets back and decides to focus on getting Xavier out of prison. It takes a lot of work, but she convinces leadership to get him out. Though now he has to have a tracker on at all times, and he has to be in Wren’s room at all times, where she needs to act as a babysitter.

The political situation worsens when Travis Redden assumes power and publicly declares war. His broadcast orders Aberrants to be killed on sight and removes any possibility of neutrality. The speech forces Primes, Mods, rebels, and civilians alike to choose sides. Within Dagger, the leadership begins preparing for open conflict while Wren becomes increasingly concerned for Cross's safety. The declaration marks a major turning point as the war moves into a more violent and uncompromising phase.

Soon an important rebel shows up, Jasper Reed, someone who Command has been trying to find for years. He is heavily involved in Wren’s training. Soon, Wren gets a warning from Cross. The prisoners in the mine are going to be transferred into a much smaller prison. In order for them to fit in the prison, a lot are going to have to die. Wren gets nervous, especially because her old best friend Tana is still in there. She goes to leadership to tell them of this tip. Once they confirm it is true, they start a mission. To Wren’s surprise, she is chosen to go. The mission goes well until she is told that all but a handful of prisoners got out. Tana was left behind. Wren can’t leave her behind, so she runs to her friend, finds the cell, only for it to be locked. Cross shows up and opens the cell for her. The two have a quick conversation before Cross has to leave before he is caught. Wren knows she will need to keep quiet about Cross helping her.

Once they all get back, Wren is summoned to leadership, where she has to lie about the door being opened. Gray escorts her to her room. He knows she has someone on the inside and is furious with her. Though she should be scared of him, she can’t help but feel like there is some sort of heated connection between them. But she shuts it down fast, knowing that she has Cross.

The next morning there is a broadcast from Command. Roe is there escorting Mods out. He says that there was an attack the night before where 16 of their people died, and in return 16 Mods need to die. He proceeds to kill 16 people point blank. Wren talks to Cross mind to mind. He mentions that he is in trouble. People suspect him of helping with the attack. Wren also has trouble with Tana, who also knows someone helped get the door open, and she believes it was someone from Command. She tells Wren she doesn’t trust her.

Needing to talk to Cross again, the two find a place to meet up in person. Cross seems very agitated. He claims that her people are going to start harming children. Cross wants Wren to leave and run away with him. The two of them should step out of the war and let others take care of it. Wren says she can’t just run away, that she is a part of something now, and that she has people. Cross doesn’t like that and basically breaks up with her, including blocking his mind from her. Months go by, and Wren and Cross don’t talk to each other.

As tensions rise, Wren trains under Hawkins to develop greater control over her incitement abilities. The training is demanding and often disturbing. She learns how easily her powers can manipulate others and how much damage they can cause. Gray has chosen to help her as well because, at this point, their trust has grown quite a bit. Hawkins teaches her increasingly advanced techniques, revealing both the potential and the dangers of her gift. Wren becomes uncomfortable with the ethical implications of influencing another person's will, but she also recognizes that these abilities may be necessary for survival. Every lesson makes her more powerful while increasing her fear of what she could become.

During this period, Gray becomes one of Wren's closest allies. Their relationship gradually develops into a romance after a big party, and they end up sharing a kiss. He shares that he wants to start something with her. However, her feelings for Cross never fully disappear. Cross's absence, combined with uncertainty about his fate, continues to affect her, especially since she can’t connect with him. But for some reason she can hear bits and pieces of his conversations, and she has no idea why. As Wren grows closer to Gray, she is forced to confront the reality that she still loves Cross as well. Wren also is still struggling with gaining trust from everyone in the Dagger, even though she has been there for more than six months. One girl even strands her in the middle of the mountains and forces her to get back by herself. Gray doesn’t let it deter her. Xavier is finding his own place as well and learning to embrace his new life.

On a mission Wren is compromised and starts to run away, only to fall into a trap and break her leg. When Gray hears about this, he comes running for her, willing to risk his own life. Wren doesn’t want that, so she uses her incitement for the first time to control him and make him go away. Wren is taken and interrogated, but luckily her people get her back quickly. Gray makes her promise to never do it again. Wren’s bad luck doesn’t end there. She is soon poisoned, and they don’t know by whom. While recovering, she learns that Cross has a new girlfriend, and though she has Gray, it hurts to have him move on anyway.

The rebellion suffers a series of devastating setbacks. Betrayals emerge from trusted allies, including Evlynne's secret cooperation with Travis. Fiona is killed, Bramble Base falls, and additional hidden agendas are uncovered. The losses demonstrate how deeply the conflict has infiltrated every level of the rebellion. Even individuals considered friends become potential threats.

Thanks to that mission and Evlynn’s betrayal, leadership within Dagger changes dramatically after Adrienne's death. Kallister calls for a new regime where, if it passes, he will be fully in charge. Wren hates that and goes to Gray to try and tell him not to vote that way. When she finds him, he is with Kallister, who chooses that moment to tell Gray about Wren’s true parents and her lineage. Her parents are the reason his family is dead. Gray is shocked and upset but goes into the vote anyway. Kallister wins. Under his leadership, punishments become harsher and opposition is dealt with more aggressively. Wren eventually discovers that Kallister and Hawkins are secretly working together on plans involving widespread corruption and manipulation of civilian populations. They plan on starting with the children and using Hawkins’s ability to corrupt. It is exactly what Cross said the rebellion would do.

As the situation deteriorates, Wren becomes increasingly involved in efforts to stop Hawkins and Kallister. Confrontations escalate into violence, and she is forced to use her own incitement abilities in ways she never wanted. The struggle reveals just how dangerous Hawkins truly is, as he uses his powers to control and corrupt others. He uses them to kill, but Wren gets the final hit in and knocks him down as well. Friends come for Wren, and they tell her to go back to her room, play dumb, and wait until things calm down. Amid the chaos, Gray reveals a painful truth about his past. His family was killed during the Valterra Ridge bombing, an attack planned by Wren's mother. The revelation creates another obstacle between them, but Gray ultimately chooses forgiveness.

One of the rebel betrayers, Adrienne, was taken during the last mission. Kallister has marked her for death. She will die the next day. But Adrienne wants to see Wren before dying. As Wren goes to see her, Adrienne has already started the process of poisoning herself. She watches as she dies, only to have Kallister eventually betray her directly, drugging her, stripping away her powers, and leaving her vulnerable. Wren passes out but then wakes up. She finds out that Kallister is a precog, someone who can see everything happen. He saw everything happen and knew Wren would do that. Before she can get more answers, their ship is shot at, and Wren is thrown and taken from the plane, only to be taken by Cross.

Cross is shocked to find Wren alive because he hasn’t been able to connect with her in months, and he assumed she was dead. While the two try to catch up on the past few months, the engine starts to fail on their plane, and they start plummeting to the ground.