Burning Bridges (The Bleeding Heart Series, #1)

In a lost world divided between those known as the Hunters and Warriors, prisoners who have fallen prey to King Cyrus's decrees are forced into an arena to fight until death. The champion is granted mercy and the privilege to see another sunrise, but the fallen meet their fate in the bloodied sand. Seventeen year-old Echo Abbeny has always minded her role as a Warrior and heiress to the Alwaenian throne. She wears the gowns and the crowns and knows the right words to say as a noblewoman, even though her heart longs to be out on the field, fighting among the brave. But she knows the rules . . . and she knows exactly how to break them. Just days before her wedding to a corrupt prince, something happens to her-something so frightening it's been kept a secret for thousands of years. A dark force beckons behind her eyes and power surges in her veins. She isn't normal, she isn't who she thought she was, and all her answers lead her to the last person she expected. A Hunter named Ayden Grey. His very existence is shunned. He's everything Echo is warned to stay away from, but his otherworldly, violet eyes make it impossible to do. When death threatens their forbidden connection, they are forced to do the unthinkable to unearth their world swallowed by lies. Just how far will they go?