When Erin spies the mysterious Mist Walker Matthew Numorid sneaking past the city guards, life changes. Matthew is a tight-lipped, secretive, inattentive weirdo who claims no city as his home—instead, he travels the beast-infested Mist blanketing the world. How Matthew becomes an assistant professor, Erin's not sure. How Erin becomes his unwilling student, well, Erin's always had bad luck. With magic more pyromaniacal puppy than obedient force; with friends that drag her into the middle of a pack of vicious Monsters; and with a summer storm that nearly sweeps her up, what else could go wrong?

A lot, she'll learn—and it may just take her life.