Wyatt Langston, a burly stage driver with dreams of a better life, never expected his route through the lawless mining camps north of San Francisco to become a fight for survival. With bandits and bushwhackers lurking in every shadow, danger is part of the job. But it's the mysterious Ku Xuan, a half-Chinese beauty with secrets of her own, who's upending Wyatt's world.

On a quest to find her American father, known only as "Big Cat," Ku Xuan hides a deadly truth-she's a Shan Tal priestess, trained in the ancient martial arts of the Orient. Her life has been shadowed by assassins and those who would see her silenced forever.

Now, Wyatt and Ku find themselves caught in a deadly crossfire: a ruthless killer is seeking revenge on Wyatt, a master assassin from Ku's past is hunting her with lethal precision, and a sea captain long thought dead is returning to face his own demons-and he's ready to die for them.

In a land where greed and violence rule, Wyatt must fight not only for his life but for the woman who holds his heart as the line between survival and loyalty blurs in a storm of bullets and betrayal.