Chapter Sixteen: Paxton's POV
1202 Words
I shifted into high gear and unleashed everything my Ducati had been holding back. The bike surged forward like a rocket, closing the gap between Gabriel and me in seconds. This was it - the moment I'd been waiting for all night.
"Time to end this," I muttered, pulling alongside Gabriel's Kawasaki.
Gabriel saw me coming and immediately swerved toward me, trying to force me off the road. I countered by moving closer to him, our bikes now racing side by side at dangerous speeds through the city streets.
"You want to play rough, Blackwood?" I shouted over the engine noise, though I knew he couldn't hear me through our helmets.
Gabriel responded by reaching out with his left hand, trying to grab my handlebar. I twisted away from his grasp, but the movement brought us even closer together. Our bikes were now mere inches apart, wheels almost touching as we screamed down the asphalt.
This is insane, I thought, but the adrenaline was too intoxicating to back down now.
Behind us, I could hear the chaos of our crews getting involved in the conflict. Marcus was battling one of Gabriel's riders, their engines roaring as they traded dangerous maneuvers. Jake was trying to block another of Gabriel's men from catching up to us.
"Paxton!" Marcus's voice crackled through my comm. "Rico's trying to ram me into the barrier!"
"Handle it!" I shouted back, not taking my eyes off Gabriel. "This is between him and me now!"
The sound of metal scraping against metal echoed behind us as our crews continued their violent dance. I caught a glimpse in my mirror of two bikes going down in a shower of sparks, but I couldn't tell whose riders they were.
Collateral damage, I thought grimly. This is what it takes to settle things once and for all.
More accidents were happening around us as regular traffic tried to get out of our way. A car swerved to avoid Marcus and Rico's battle, clipping another vehicle and sending it spinning into a light pole. Another driver slammed on their brakes and got rear-ended by the car behind them.
"Paxton!" Tony's voice suddenly burst through my comm, urgent and confused. "What the hell are you doing?"
"What do you mean?" I replied, still focused on Gabriel as we weaved through traffic at breakneck speed.
"You're going the wrong way!" Tony shouted. "Both of you! You've left the designated track completely!"
I glanced around and realized he was right. In our battle for dominance, Gabriel and I had veered off the planned race route and were now heading straight through the city center, racing down streets that definitely weren't part of the course.
When did that happen? I wondered, but I didn't slow down. Doesn't matter. This ends tonight, track or no track.
"Paxton, answer me!" Tony's voice was getting more frantic. "Why are you speeding in the wrong direction?"
I ignored him, too focused on Gabriel to waste time with explanations. The race route didn't matter anymore - this had become something bigger than any organized competition. This was personal, and it was going to be settled on our terms.
Gabriel suddenly accelerated, trying to pull ahead of me, but I matched his speed effortlessly. My Ducati was older than his Kawasaki, but it was tuned to perfection and I knew every inch of its capabilities.
"Not today, you bastard!" I yelled, even though he couldn't hear me.
We were now racing at over a hundred miles per hour through narrow city streets, our bikes locked in a deadly dance of speed and rivalry. Gabriel tried to ram me again, this time more aggressively, and I had to swerve hard to avoid him.
The movement brought us even closer together, and suddenly Gabriel reached out again. This time, instead of trying to grab my handlebars, he grabbed my jacket, pulling me toward him as we continued racing.
"What the hell are you doing?" I shouted, panic flashing through my mind as I felt myself being dragged sideways.
I grabbed his jacket in return, and now we were locked together, both bikes careening down the street with neither of us in full control. It was like some twisted version of a three-legged race, except we were doing it at lethal speeds on motorcycles.
"Let go!" I yelled, though I wasn't letting go of him either.
"You let go first, Wolfe!" Gabriel screamed back through his helmet, his voice barely audible over the engine noise and wind.
"Not a chance!" I replied, gripping his jacket tighter.
Gabriel's helmet turned toward me, and even through his visor I could see his eyes - wild, determined, completely committed to this insane course of action.
"One of us is going to have to give!" I shouted at him as we continued accelerating.
"It won't be me!" Gabriel yelled back, his grip on my jacket never loosening.
We were still speeding up, our linked bikes now racing as one unstable unit through the city. Cars honked and swerved around us, drivers leaning on their horns and shouting curses that were lost in the wind.
"Get out of the way!" I heard a driver scream as we flew past.
"Are they insane?" another voice yelled from a passing car.
"Paxton!" Tony's voice was almost screaming through the comm now. "You need to break away! You're heading straight for—"
"Straight for what?" I demanded, looking ahead.
My blood turned to ice. In the distance, maybe half a mile away, was a massive concrete building - looked like some kind of warehouse or industrial complex. And we were racing straight toward it at over a hundred miles per hour.
"Oh s**t!" I cursed.
Gabriel had seen it too. I could feel his grip on my jacket tighten, and when I turned to look at him, his helmet was angled directly at me.
"You see it, don't you, Wolfe?" Gabriel's voice came through, somehow audible despite everything.
"You're playing chicken with our lives!" I accused him.
"So are you!" he shot back. "Question is, who's going to blink first?"
"Not me!" I declared, though my heart was hammering against my ribs.
"Then we both die!" Gabriel laughed, wild and reckless. "Is that what you want?"
"If that's what it takes!" I replied, though part of me couldn't believe what I was saying.
The building was getting closer, its concrete walls growing larger and more menacing with every second.
"Thirty seconds to impact!" Tony's voice crackled through my comm. "Paxton, please!"
"You hear that, Blackwood?" I called out. "Thirty seconds to decide!"
"I've already decided!" Gabriel yelled back. "I'm not backing down! Are you?"
"Never!" I responded, though my hands were shaking on my handlebars.
"Then let's see who's really the king!" Gabriel screamed as we continued hurtling toward certain death.
The speedometer showed 110 mph and climbing. The building loomed ahead like a concrete mountain.
"Twenty seconds!" Tony's voice was desperate now. "Please, both of you, just let go!"
"What's it going to be, Wolfe?" Gabriel demanded, his eyes locked onto mine through his visor. "Life or victory?"
"What's it going to be for you?" I shot back, staring right back at him.
- Writer
