Book excerpt: A bewildering series of events overwhelms Ryker - separated from Tiara again, who is in Sasha's clutches, shackled in a ship that is listing and about to sink - Ryker has to think fast. His Navy SEALs training comes in handy, as he reacts instinctively to find some way out of the darkness of his present situation. He thinks back to the choices that he has made in his life that have led him here, right now, bloodied and bruised and left for dead. Even though an expert marksman that could unwaveringly hit a bulls-eye, Ryker considers that the toughest steel he developed was inside his mind. SEALs training helped him overcome scenarios he never thought he had the endurance of the capacity to survive, but no part of training could have prepared him for his present day situation. All he can think of is to find a way to survive so that he can find Tiara, for she is now he is sure the biggest part of his destiny.