Nomadic beach resident and perennial degree chaser Thomas Davidson is preparing for exams when he finds a message in a bottle that releases Mirabelle, a Wishbringer who grants him a wish before returning to drift upon the sea. He uses the power of that wish to secretly avert disasters and help people in need while wandering from college to college and beach to beach. People connected to him begin to die, murdered in brutal and horrifying ways for reasons he does not understand. His series of anonymous good deeds has caught the attention of those who believe the balance between good and evil...

Panic and plague race across the face of America, driving everyone eastward in their struggle for survival. Humans and Nightlife alike are falling prey to the Red Death, a disease that turns blood against whatever body contains it. Entire states become dead zones as governments struggle with quarantines and evacuations, not realizing that more than people are on the move. A mass migration has begun of every species that is capable of recognizing the danger. Sightings of supernatural creatures begin to surface, adding to the chaos as human fatalities climb into the millions. Included in the...