City of Secrets and Shadows by Elizabeth Blackthorne

Vengeance burns brighter than dragon fire in my blood.
Ten years a slave, I escaped the gladiator arena with nothing but hatred in my heart and a dragon at my command. Now I stand at the gates of the Dragon Elite Academy wearing a noblewoman’s face—a mask to hide the warrior beneath.
My mission is simple: get close to the Emperor, and make him pay for destroying my family.
What I never expected was to find myself surrounded by men who see past my carefully crafted lies.
Marcus — the older gladiator who taught me to fight and now risks everything to protect me.
Septimus — my brother’s best friend whose touch ignites something I can’t afford to feel.
Tarshi — half-Talfen, all danger, with golden eyes that haunt my dreams, a forbidden union that risks both our lives.
And now Jalend — an arrogant, infuriating noble whose smirk I want to slap off his face almost as much as I want to taste it. A dangerous attraction I can never act upon in case my secret is discovered.
Each night I share heated whispers and stolen moments with men who should be my enemies. Each day I play the perfect cadet, excelling in trials designed to break me, all while plotting the downfall of the very institution I’m infiltrating.
But as secrets about the war between humans and Talfen begin to surface, I’m forced to question what I’m truly fighting for.
The Empire took everything from me once. I won’t let them take the three men who’ve claimed pieces of my heart—or deny the forbidden desire for a fourth who threatens my entire mission.
In a world of imperial politics and ancient magic, I don’t have to choose. And neither do they.