In this, the penultimate book of the Good Shepherds series, Mark and Maya face an even darker threat when they learn the true identity of the ancient, evil spirit known by the Shepherds as the Rogue.
There are consequences to be had from the previous books when an empty vessel is possessed by Harry Burns, a Hellbound soul, who goes on the attack against what is left of his family. As Mark and Maya meet new Shepherds, and learn to advance their abilities, tragedy strikes: Mark is left almost powerless from a mysterious attack at the site of a massacre at a nursing home. The attack seems to be an unfortunate accident until Mark vanishes, leaving Maya and her mentors convinced the Rogue has his hand in everything that has happened so far.
They are right.
When Carsan reaches out to her supporters for help they rush to Coalton to prepare to go into battle to retrieve Mark from the clutches of the Rogue. They save him before it's too late but they lose one of their own in the fight. When the Rogue moves against the boarding house Carsan is left with no choice but to reach out to the Elders for assistance.
Assistance, however, is not what they receive. To their horror they learn that the Elders, who have left the safety to Genesis, the Shepherd homeland, reveal that rather than save Mark and Maya they wish to sacrifice the young Shepherd pair to the Rogue to keep the peace, something they've done many times in the past.
Now Mark and Maya are left to battle two terrible threats: The Rogue and the Elders. Secrets are revealed, a ruthless killer of children is brought to justice, and Mark, Maya, and their mentors are all pushed to their limits just to stay alive.