“Full throttle. Left turn.”
“Third gear right, downhill ahead. Ease up!”
Selene had studied the route notes, committing every off–road detail to memory. But out here, in the thick of the race, raw speed left no time for conscious thought.
In these moments, Adrian was her mind.
His commands came fast and clipped, his mental map of Bellcrest Mountain’s twisting course more vivid than reality–a three–dimensional blueprint only he could see.
He was the strategist, the chess master guiding Selene’s every move across the board.
“Harrison! Go for it!”
Felicity’s shout rang out as she felt Harrison push the car harder, surging forward.
She’d lost track of the navigator’s notes ages ago–who knew where they’d ended up? She was just along for the ride, Harrison’s companion in the passenger seat.
And Harrison didn’t need a co–driver. He trusted his own instincts above all else.
He knew Bellcrest Mountain’s racecourse better than anyone; after all, he’d helped design the layout, every treacherous bend and hidden dip.
Dark Hole ran neck and neck with the other cars in the second pack, all of them left in the dust by Solarius.
On a wide, sweeping curve, Solarius executed a near–perfect U–turn drift.
Harrison’s eyes widened, dark and intense.
He’d seen Solarius in action before, tearing up the circuit.
The original owner of Solarius was a mystery–Harrison only knew her name: Luna a woman with a reputation but little else known. He’d tried to dig up more, but even his resources turned up nothing.
He never imagined he’d cross paths with Solarius in a real race.
His sister’s voice echoed in his memory: “Bro! Get Luna to join our team! I want her to be my mentor!”
1/3
Chapter 99
But when he finally got Luna’s contact through a mutual friend, all he learned was that she was retiring.
Later, Solarius went up for auction. Harrison had been there, intending to buy the car himself. But as soon as bidding opened, the price shot through the roof.
He was a businessman. As much as he loved racing, paying well above market value for Solarius made no sense–he wouldn’t throw money away for sentiment. After a few bids, he withdrew from the contest.
In the end, it was Adrian who bought Solarius at a premium. Now, five years later, Adrian had somehow brought Luna herself back to the track.
Adrian–always the rival Harrison wanted, needed, to surpass.
With his target clear, Harrison’s speed climbed. Felicity could feel the shift in the air–he was all in now.
Solarius had awakened something in him: the hunter’s drive, a lion chasing down its prey across open ground.
The next moment, Harrison’s car plunged into the blackout zone.
It was a special section of the off–road course–no lights, no mercy.
The towering trees overhead blotted out even the faintest trace of sky, not a single ray slipping through the dense canopy.
“Harrison, turn on the headlights!” Felicity urged.
But Harrison had no intention of doing so.
No one did–not a single car had its lights on as they entered the pitch–black stretch.
Turning them on would only give away your position–an open invitation to your rivals.
Harrison had memorized every curve of this segment, relying on instinct and memory as he floored the gas, blind and fearless.
“Three hundred meters, right. Four hundred meters, left. Third gear left after the rise. Three hundred meters past the hill, cut the corner.”
In the darkness, Selene surrendered herself completely to Adrian’s guidance. Thuds echoed through Felicity’s helmet–somewhere nearby, cars were colliding in the blackness. She gripped her helmet tight, terror creeping in. It felt like being
08-52 i
Chapter 99
trapped in a sealed cabin, danger pressing in from every side, nowhere to run.
But inside Solarius, Selene and Adrian were almost fused–his mind, her reflexes, working as one. Every command he gave, she executed without hesitation.
Chapter 100
