It's been three years since Captain Pizzaro and his conquistadors began their occupation of the Inca empire. With their insatiable appetite for gold, and despite Pizzaro's attempts at peaceful, Christian stewardship, many men have begun burning villages that fail to produce the valuable metal.

Meanwhile, the Incas finally unite and prepare for war against their common enemy. Young Manco has reclaimed his rightful place as Emperor, and the beautiful, magical Anamaya is at his side. Yearning for peace, Anamaya's mysterious blue eyes still look to the spirit world for signs. She knows her beloved Gabriel, the Spanish soldier who bears the sacred puma's mark, will play an important role in the future of the Inca empire. But how can she convince Manco and his warriors that Gabriel is different, when they have sworn revenge against all the light-skinned Strangers?

The impending conflict will divide our heroes. But, at the critical moment, will Anamaya and Gabriel choose loyalty or love?

Princess Anamaya's hypnotic blue eyes have seen too much. Having guarded the passage of the dying Emperor, she is now chosen by the gods to stand beside the new Emperor and divine the future of the Incan Empire -- a future shadowed by brutal warriors who worship foreign gods. The Conquistadors and their armies seek to enslave the Incas and loot their sacred temples and royal treasuries, despite Anamaya's attempts to foster peace. When it comes to a prize as valuable as Cuzco, the city of the sacred puma, they refuse to heed her warnings.

The soldier Gabriel has come among Anamaya's people as a conqueror, but the honorable Spaniard is untainted by his companions' lust for wealth and power. His fascination with the splendor of Anamaya's land, and its ancient heritage, is matched only by the passion he and Anamaya come to share. But when his countrymen push forward in their quest to plunder Cuzco, he is forced to join the battle, leaving Anamaya struggling with divided loyalties and their forbidden love in the wake of this first major confrontation between the Spanish and the Incas.

Filled with romance and adventure and colored by the changeless desires that link man and woman throughout the ages, The Gold of Cuzco is a thrilling follow-up to The Puma's Shadow, the first book in the Incas trilogy.