For eighteen-year-old Jason Freeman, that dream has always seemed out of reach. A service android doesn’t dream of murder—he is made to serve. Even after years of therapy to “cure” his meekness, Jason remains awkward, compassionate, and ultimately defective. When he learns he’s to be replaced by a soulless avatar, relief washes over him. But knowing his replacement will erase even his faint humanity leaves him seething with dread.

Prince Marcus Kane, future apex predator, was raised to despise deviants like Jason. But beneath his polished veneer lies a bitter truth: Marcus has never embraced the ruthless violence his father, the All-Father, demands. A romantic at heart, Marcus despises his family’s brutality almost as much as the complicity he feels. After being forced to commit a heinous act, he begins to fantasize about burning down his own kingdom.

Then, the All-Father grants Jason a special pardon. To win back his right to exist, Jason must infiltrate Anthem’s elite—a pantheon of smiling tyrants where murder is the ultimate currency. Meanwhile, among the deviants who refuse to become psychopaths, whispers spread of strange abilities gained at a deadly cost—powers that defy Anthem’s control and threaten its foundation.

As Jason’s mission unravels, as Anthem descends into civil war, Marcus must confront the monster within. For when psychopaths smell blood, no one—not even their chosen son—will be spared.