Kyle shook from the inside out. He’d never been colder. The effort it took to pry his eyes open made him wonder if his eyelids had frozen shut. Shouts came from the distance. Where was Zephyr? Even once his eyes opened, all Kyle saw was white. As far as the eye could see, everything was an endless nothingness. He blinked. The scenery didn’t change. The blank surface shimmered. Kyle reached out, fingering the glittering substance. It was ice. The fog lifted from his brain. He was in Dead-Zone. There was no mistaking the place. He didn’t understand. When he’d fallen asleep, Zephyr had been at his side. Now, he was back in Dead-Zone. Wait. Had it been a dream? Had he ever been to Cryo?

The shouts moved closer. Huge shadowy figures loomed above him. One said his name. Kyle didn’t recognize the voice and the light the man held blinded Kyle. He couldn’t see a thing.

“We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Are you hurt? We thought that droid had killed you. Have you been here this whole time? How have you survived?”

Kyle couldn’t do anything but blink into the lights surrounding him. His throat was centimeters away from swelling closed. Zephyr had brought him back and abandoned him. The droid had broken him. Kyle would never be the same.

Kyle waited until he was in his old bunk and alone with his second in command, Jessie, before asking any questions. “How did you find me?”

Jessie pushed a strand of long dark hair behind his ear. “We were out, patrolling the border, looking for stray droids. The motion and heat detectors fired up, and we found you.”

For a moment, all Kyle could do was stare at Jessie. Nothing had changed. The man’s hazel eyes were the same, except now Kyle could see the fanatic behind them. They’d kissed once. It had never gone farther. He was glad now. All Kyle had to hate himself for was everything else.

“So, just another hunting trip out killing unsuspecting droids.”

Jessie’s features snapped closed. “What?”

Kyle shook his head and struggled to sit up. “Nothing. Just thinking aloud that it must be Wednesday.” Or any day of the week, Kyle thought bitterly. He’d done things he couldn’t take back. Kyle couldn’t count the innocent droids he’d killed for no reason at all. He’d tortured them until they’d given up information on Zephyr. That was how he’d found him and why he’d thought he could handle questioning Zephyr alone. It was no wonder Zephyr couldn’t love him. Kyle couldn’t love himself. None of that explained how Kyle had ended up in the middle of a field after falling asleep in Zephyr’s arms. The pain was massive. It was too heavy to carry. Kyle wondered if it would kill him. He hoped it would.

After a minute of struggle and with some help from Jessie, Kyle finally managed to sit up. “I need a drink.”

“What do you need? I’ll get it,” Jessie offered, looking panicked. Kyle never drank. He was always in control.

“Just help me stand,” Kyle said. “I need the whole bar and you can’t bring me that.”

* * *

Zephyr waited another hour after Kyle was found before moving. He’d shut most his systems down to avoid detection while monitoring Kyle’s vitals. He’d known it would only be a matter of time before Kyle was discovered, but Zephyr wasn’t willing to risk Kyle dying from exposure while they waited. When the pack of humans arrived, Zephyr was forced to stamp down the temptation to kill them all, especially one. The man whose brain activity shot through the roof the minute he spotted Kyle. The rush of dopamine and oxytocin flooding the man’s veins when he realized Kyle was alive said more than words could. Whoever he was, he was in love with Kyle.

Watching Kyle being helped away by the equivalent of a droid lynch mob wasn’t easy. Zephyr told himself that was why the pain in his chest increased by the minute. It couldn’t be his heart breaking. According to Kyle, Zephyr couldn’t feel. With that depressing thought firmly settled in his mind, Zephyr headed back to Cryo—back to his lonely existence where humans couldn’t hurt him.

It didn’t take as long to get to Zephyr’s home as he’d led Kyle to believe. He’d been scared Kyle might leave him if he knew. Now Zephyr couldn’t help but wonder why he was always his own worst enemy. Why did he keep giving humans a chance? He was as Kyle once called him—a learning machine. Too bad he couldn’t seem to learn the most important lesson of all. There was no one for him.

The first step inside his house was the worst. Each footstep he took sounded like rocks being dropped into an empty bucket. That was what his life was like too. He started with the kitchen, getting rid of every sign of human life. Kyle was the only reason Zephyr ever used this room. The flowers he bought Kyle still looked every bit as alive and fresh thanks to Zephyr’s care. Now he tossed them in the trash. Nobody gave a fuck about flowers anymore. The gift had been a ridiculous impulse just as Kyle had been a whimsical dream. Zephyr’s whole existence was a joke.

* * *

There were zero reasons Kyle didn’t die. The alcohol he’d been chugging down nonstop for the past two weeks was some hardcore shit that the local brewer, Bruno, had sitting in a barrel for ages. Kyle’s nose, lips, and tongue had gone numb at some unnamed point. Now, Kyle was tossing liquor back and praying his heart would be next.

“What’s going on with you? You know no one blames you for the droid escaping. We all underestimated his strength.”

Kyle eyed Bruno but didn’t answer beyond a shrug. It was not like Kyle could explain something he didn’t understand. Nor did he give a fuck what Bruno thought.

“You need to sober up so we can start making plans.”

“For what?” Kyle asked for no other reason than to fulfill his end of the conversation. He watched in fascination as Bruno’s barrel chest expanded, sucking up too much oxygen. Jesus. The guy was like a freaking bear. The man’s size kicked a memory out of Kyle’s head from his time with Zephyr. He sat forward. “Hey, have you heard anything about the droids importing food here?”

One of Bruno’s massive shoulders lifted, and he scratched his grizzly beard. “Sure. I believe there’s a drop site further north of here. They come about twice a week. Why? Are you thinking we can use that to our advantage?”

For the first time since Kyle had awoken back in Dead-Zone, he wished he was sober. His brain didn’t want to dredge up plausible answers—responses that would keep Bruno talking.

Instead, he shrugged. “I don’t know. Just thinking aloud. It would be nice not to go hungry if we don’t have to.” Not that Bruno looked like he ever missed a meal.

An ugly-sounding snort escaped Bruno. “I wouldn’t touch anything coming from Cryo. It’s bound to be every bit as toxic as the air. I imagine they’re hoping to kill off the rest of us who get hungry enough to accept.”

Kyle concentrated on blinking slow, hoping he wouldn’t accidentally roll his eyes. An idea struck and Kyle had to stop himself from jumping to his feet. “Are there any old-timers hanging around? Someone I can get a history lesson from?”

Bruno took on a calculating look. “What are you about?”

It was hard, but Kyle held on to his carefree tone. “Just trying to come up with a new plan, but I need new info.”

The way Bruno nodded gave Kyle hope he’d pulled off sounding lucid. Inside, he was itching to get away. “Talbot Reynolds is getting up there in years. I imagine if you need to find out something about Cryo before it was Cryo, he’d know.”

Kyle flew to his feet and regretted it just as fast. He took a second to gather his bearings. “I’ll catch up you with after I talk to Talbot. Maybe there’s still a way to salvage things.” He was purposely vague. The thing he wanted to salvage most was his relationship with Zephyr. He didn’t know what they’d been to each other, but he knew what he wanted them to be. That would never happen with Kyle stuck in Dead-Zone at hate central.

Luckily, Kyle found Talbot overseeing the bunker’s water purification project. Kyle didn’t hesitate following on the man’s heels while he worked, peppering him with questions.

“Do you remember the woman who used to argue droid rights before the revolution?”

Talbot glanced over his shoulder. His blue eyes were frosted over with cataracts, but his hindered vision never slowed him. “Seems like I do,” Talbot said before hobbling on down the line and testing another batch of water as it streamed in from an underground waterfall. “Real pretty little thing. Red hair and bright green eyes. It’s a shame she came from such an undesirable family. She was a doctor and everything. Smart girl like that could’ve gone far.” He straightened before adding. “Dr. Kiston Beck. That was her name.”

“Why was her family considered undesirable?” Kyle asked, thankful Talbot kept his back to him. His inebriated state slowed down Kyle’s speech, helping to keep the excitement from his voice. Kyle wasn’t sure he could keep the emotion from his eyes.

Talbot grunted. “Mother took up with a droid when Kiston was just a little girl. She didn’t stand a chance in a world on the verge of collapse. Townsfolk took care of it their own way, though.”

Kyle’s gut twisted. “How so?”

Without looking back, Talbot wiped his wet hands on his tattered jeans and moved to his worktable and scribbled a few notes. “Torched the house, from what I understand. The mother was cancer-ridden and not long for the world anyhow.”

The weight on Kyle’s chest increased by the second. He couldn’t remember a time when the world had looked uglier to him and that was saying a lot. There was still more he needed. “Obviously, Kiston survived somehow.”

Talbot grunted again.

Kyle took it to mean the man was still listening. “Do you think it’s true what they say about her being raised by the droid who started the revolution?”

Glancing up from his work, Talbot finally focused on Kyle. His scraggly face didn’t give any clue to his thoughts on Kyle’s line of questioning. “I’d say it’s more than possible being as how she was taken in by the Cybernetics Agency and stashed in an underground compound up north shortly before the riots began.”

It took every ounce of Kyle’s willpower not to rush from the room right then. It would take some planning if he hoped to travel north. The world only got colder and more uninhabitable with every mile traveled inside Dead-Zone. From what he understood, only cyborgs lived up that way. “Do you think it’s possible she’s still alive?”

“More than possible, even probable. With their technology, she could live forever.”

“Thanks for your time,” Kyle said, moving to leave.

Talbot reached out, grabbing Kyle’s arm with the speed of a much younger man. Kyle’s gaze swung around, colliding with Talbot’s. “If you’re thinking about heading up that way, you’ll never make it on foot. You’ll need—at the very least—an unmanned transport drone with an anti-freeze coating. I got something you can use if you’re interested.”

Kyle was more than interested. Unfortunately, there was no way he could accept. “That would be amazing, but—to be honest—I’m not headed up that way on any sort of official business. If she still lives, it’s not my intention to bring her to justice.”

A smile broke through the ragged lines of Talbot’s face. “I didn’t figure as much. You might look at me and see an old man, but I lived through all the hate people reminisce about around here. It’s real easy to despise something you know nothing about. You’ve changed since you got back. Maybe I’m the only who’s noticed. Maybe I’m not. Either way, I think you should go—see there’s more to life.”

“Why haven’t you gone?”

With a snort, Talbot pointed at his eyes. “Can’t see to get there, now can I?”

“I’ll take you if you want to go,” Kyle offered on impulse. If Talbot wasn’t filled with the same hatred as the rest of the compound, he should leave too.

“Nah,” Talbot said, waving off the offer. “People need me here. The world split for a reason. I’m thinking it should probably stay that way. But you, you don’t belong here. Not any longer.”

Kyle stared at the rushing water, wondering if he fit anywhere any longer. “What if I never return?” Kyle didn’t want anyone—not even Talbot, knowing he didn’t intend to come back, but he couldn’t take the man’s vehicle without being honest.

“I expect you won’t.”

At Talbot’s claim, Kyle focused on the older man, feeling soberer than he should. “Why?”

The corner of Talbot’s mouth lifted in a sardonic smile. “Because you got a peek behind the curtain and saw there’s a real man pulling the strings of every mechanical device.”