Within the fifty-two domains live the bound and unbound, those without powers and those with them. Only the unbound can hold the highest positions in the government. The Card Holders.
 
When her domain's Card Holder dies, seventeen-year-old Neela Blydes is forced to participate in a tournament to find the unbound most worthy of leading the Queen of Hearts Domain. But the tournament isn't as glorious as it seems. It's a tournament that herds unique unbound called Specialists into deadly combat, a tournament where winning by default is nonexistent and killing is permitted.
 
As Neela progresses through the rounds with her life on the line, she forges new alliances and encounters dangerous unbound adversaries. Among them is a white-haired man with crimson eyes.
 
Dangerously familiar crimson eyes.