The lonely land spoke to her, touched her soul, whispered to her heart.Even before she ventured onto The Lava Beds National Monument of Northern California for the first time, anthropologist Tory Kent knew something was waiting for her there—something or someone. Maybe the answer to what she's been looking for all her life lay in what the Modoc Indians once called The Land Of Burned Out Fires.The solitary warrior Loka wants nothing to do with the beautiful newcomer. Decades ago his small tribe was losing the battle against land-greedy pioneers. His courage and primitive weapons were useless. His people were doomed, his son already dead which was why he swallowed the shaman's medicine. However, instead of dying, he eventually regained consciousness to discover he was the only Modoc left to try to claim ancestorial land.Is the woman he can't shake from his heart linked to his awakening? Something is stirring inside him, reminding him that he's a man—alone.Can he trust the sad-eyed stranger?Can Tory accept what Loka represents?Will he survive her offer of love—and the danger that stalks her?
