Page 16 of Cold Ignition

The Hellcat snapped sideways under braking, tires screaming as he redirected toward a narrow maintenance track carved into the canyon wall. Gunfire cracked through the night, sparks jumping from asphalt and steel.

Behind him, the GT-R didn’t hesitate.

Atua mirrored the move perfectly, while Lykos leaned out just enough to return controlled fire, buying them the seconds they needed.

The track was barely wide enough for one car.

They took it side by side anyway.

Keanu adjusted his line without thinking, giving the GT-R enough space to hold position without clipping the wall. The other car matched him seamlessly, the two of them moving in perfect, unspoken coordination as the path twisted dangerously along the cliff face.

Trust.

Instant. Absolute.

They broke free miles later, the main road opening ahead of them as the gunfire faded into silence.

For a moment, they drove side by side. No crowd. No noise.

Just the three of them and the open road. Atua turned his head.

Through the mirrored visor, Keanu felt the weight of his gaze.

Lykos watched him too, eyes sharp and assessing.

Then Atua grinned.

A challenge.

He accelerated.

Keanu followed without hesitation. They crossed the line seconds apart. No clear winner. No one who mattered would care. Because by the time the rest of the field arrived—

The Hellcat was already gone.

No helmet removed.

No name given.

Just scorched asphalt and the lingering sense that something had torn through the canyon and vanished into the night.

“Who the hell was that?” someone asked.

The answer came quiet.

Certain.

“Ahi.”

Chapter Four

Wind slipped through broken windows and empty corridors of the abandoned hotel, carrying the distant rhythm of waves against the shore, a steady, indifferent pulse that seemed too calm for the situation they were in.

But Alexios didn’t trust calm.

Not here. Not now.

He sat on the edge of a table, elbows resting loosely on his knees, his gaze fixed on the darkened hallway ahead while every instinct he had remained alert, cataloging every shift in sound, every subtle change in pressure. Rangi stood a few feet away, partially shadowed near a doorway, his posture relaxed in appearance only.