Too many years of hunting psychotic vampires night after night have left Rachel with a need for change. So when the opportunity to travel across the galaxy aboard a Lasaran warship to a utopian planet arises, the powerful Immortal Guardian jumps at the chance. Rachel eagerly looks forward to making a fresh start . . . until an enemy attacks and she ends up alone in an escape pod so far from alliance-occupied space that no one can hear her communications. No one except a renegade cyborg who shouldn't exist. After a hard-fought rebellion, Wonick and his cyborg brethren settled on a distant planet, where they've finally carved out a peaceful existence. The Aldebarian Alliance believes every Akseli cyborg died long ago. And Wonick is determined to prevent anyone from discovering otherwise, knowing such would spark the fiercest manhunt in the galaxy. Yet when he hears Rachel's communications, temptation drives him to speak to her, sparking friendship and a longing for a different future. Rachel finds Wonick even more appealing when she meets him in person, and their friendship soon deepens into love as the cyborgs cautiously welcome her into the fold. But the warriors' ability to collect intel uncovers a secret the enemy has guarded for decades, one that compels them to embark upon a mission fraught with danger. Contains mature themes.