Vance and Winslow seethed. They had long since run out of words. Auras ablaze, they leapt at each other within the trash-strewn dead end, eschewing strategy for brute force as they prepared to rip each other’s throats out.

Then, both of their bodies slammed hard into a powerful new force that had appeared between them, and they went sailing to the ground.

The only one standing in the alley now was Saffron, arms outstretched and dissipating the young men's ...