The wickedness we pursue is not murder, but murder’s source, Messenger said. “It is hatred we pursue. Hatred.
” Are you one of the wicked? Have you sinned, and gone unpunished? Then the Messenger of Fear is coming for you. He’s going to offer you one terrible game. But will you play . . . or pay? If you win, you can go free. But if you lose, you must live out your greatest fear.
Mara is still adjusting to her role as the enigmatic Messenger’s apprentice. She must face the worst horrors of intolerance, cruelty and injustice: she, as much as any of the people Messenger pursues, is being punished. But Mara has a secret, and it’s beginning to overpower her: she wants to touch the Messenger, the boy who is not to be touched.