In a world where willpower fuels magic, peace is hard to come by. The strongest wield fiery tempers and the rest struggle to game the system that oppresses them.  Abel is a young soldier in a war he never wanted to fight, with an opportunity to defect to the enemies' side in exchange for an opportunity for peace: to go to school, to find love, to mess with those he finds mildly annoying.  So naturally, he takes it.  But he'll soon find out the empire he's seeking sanctuary in is as underhanded as the one he left, and his quest for peace will be broken by the rumbling of a growing rebellion against the capital city's secret police, the Catchers.  One part political fantasy, one part gangster thriller, a bit of romance and comedy sprinkled in for self-indulgence.