They approached the starting line where all cars were lining up. There were a total of 10 cars taking part in the race. The starting line was in the middle of the clearing and at a distance of about 500 meters, Aselia could see a narrow winding track where the proper race would take place. So the initial seconds of the race would be crucial and whoever would take the lead would have more chances of winning.

"You do this often?" She asked turning to him.

"Yes, a lot. No one has to reveal their identity here or show their face. Just pay the entry fee and race. No harm done." She nodded and understood why he had brought her along too.

"Do you always win?" She asked although she knew the answer.

"No, there are some skilled racers here. I have never won." His eyes reflected the whole truth behind his words.

"You lose on purpose to not come under the spotlight." Aselia burrowed her eyebrows at him making him smile, although she couldn’t see it his eyes revealed his happiness.

Just then someone knocked on Xiran’s window. They turned to see a man with a Tiger mask standing there. Xiran rolled down his mirror and turned towards the man who bent down to look inside the car, his eyes were on Aselia.

"Long time, Silver. And you don’t even say hello." The man spoke in a raspy voice.

"I didn’t know we were friends," Xiran spoke in a dragged tone.

"You wanna wager on the race?" His eyes scanned Aselia from head to toe and although she couldn’t see his face, she knew he had a sleazy smile on his face. She wanted to punch him, her fist clenched on its own.

"Not interested," Xiran tried to roll up his glass. But the man placed his hand on the glass and spoke:

"Afraid to lose in front of your girlfriend. Why don’t we wager on her, if I win..." Xiran didn’t let him finish, the door opened with such force that the man went flying and banged into the car standing next to theirs.

Xiran dashed out and grabbed him by the neck. He lifted him off his feet and began to choke him. Aselia watched him with an amused expression that no one could see. She made no effort to stop him while the management of the event had gathered around Xiran and was pleading with him to let the man go. His eyes were bulging out due to the force Xiran was applying and his whole body was spasming.

"I thought we understood each other and this was a respectable place. When did you start accepting sleazeballs here?" He glowered at the Manager who had his hands clasped in front of him.

"Sir, I apologise for whatever he said. Let him go and we will deal with him." He replied meekly.

But Xiran was in no mood to let him go and said: "He disrespected the lady with me and no one disrespects a lady in front of me." With that Xiran punched him so hard that his mask broke and some of his teeth got knocked out. Blood spurted out from his mouth, his face depicted the horrors he felt.

Xiran loosened his chokehold and grabbed him by his hair. He then dragged him towards the car where Aselia sat. He opened the door to her side and lowered the man to her feet.

"APOLOGIZE," Xiran thundered at him. A crowd had formed around them, watching. No one dared approach Xiran for they had understood he was a vampire by the sheer force he used to handle the man.

The man mumbled an apology through his bloody mouth. His eyes showed that he was in shock and his whole body was twitching with fear. Blood ran down his neck and soaked his shirt.

Aselia had never seen this side of Xiran. She knew he had beaten up his brother but she had never actually seen him do that. She was astonished to see he could get this violent for he had mostly been gentle with her.

"I forgive him. Let him go." She finally spoke throwing Xiran a surprised look. Xiran finally threw him away, like a ragdoll.

Then he turned to the Manager of the event and towered over him before shouting: "There are female drivers here as well. Is this how you people treat them?" Xiran’s fists were clenched and he was far from calming down. The manager flinched at his voice.

A girl with fish stockings and a tank top emerged from one of the racing cars and came to halt near Xiran before speaking: "Thank you for teaching this piece of shit a lesson. He has been harassing all the females who come here and management just turns a blind eye."

This spiked Xiran’s anger and he grabbed the Manager by his collar. Before he could punch him, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find Aselia standing behind him.

"Honey, let’s settle this peacefully. Shall we?" Xiran couldn’t believe what she had just called him but then he understood she didn’t want to take his name in front of a bunch of strangers.

Xiran turned to the Manager and spoke: "I want you to fix these issues. It has been a while since I attended the event and you have turned it into something dirty for the sake of money. Mayor Mazitine is my family friend, one phone call and he will send all of you to prison and shut this down. Do you want that?" Manager shook his head for he had lost his voice.

"This racing event should go back to the way it was before. Anyone found misbehaving or violating the rules will be severely dealt with. I will be sending my men from next month onwards to ensure this event is safe for everyone." Xiran’s words blew a new spirit in all the racers and they clapped vehemently, some even shouted their approval.

"Thank you," the female racer offered her gratitude while Xiran nodded at her, she then added with a smirk: 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Doesn’t mean I will go easy on you in the race."

Xiran finally smiled and said: "Bring it on, shall we?" And the crowd erupted in cheers.

The injured man was removed and disqualified while the Manager apologised and was allowed to manage the race.

Everyone settled down in their cars and was given 10 minutes to get ready, before the blowing of the final whistle.

Aselia silently observed him as he came back and sat down. His backhand was covered in blood. She extended her hand and asked for his. He placed his hand in hers, quietly.

"I have never seen you so angry before." She spoke softly as she cleaned his hand with tissue paper from the dashboard.

"I wanted to kill him, how dare he speak like that..." His hand became taut again and gripped hers.

"Calm down, the action hero of a low-budget racing movie." She shot him an angry glance and he couldn’t stifle a chuckle that escaped him.

"You can’t go around killing people for talking dirty. What do you think you are? An Executioner?" She continued wiping his hand.

"No, I am a grim reaper when it comes to my girl. And you are my girl." He told her without any hesitation. Her hands went cold at his words, this man will never let her go. He was gonna wreak havoc on anyone he will find once she would be gone.

"Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and focus on the race for now." She let his hand go and he placed it back on the steering wheel.

"Honey? I can’t believe you called me honey." He laughed, embarrassing her again.

"What else was I supposed to say? Xiran, my loveee, Uggghh" She mimicked love-sick, cringe girls and acted as if she was about to vomit.

"Would it be this bad if you had to someday? Do I disgust you that much?" He glanced at her and she could see hurt in those eyes. He had taken her joke seriously.

"You are such an idiot. You don’t disgust me but I don’t do these notions. I am not a hopeless romantic like you. I thought you understood that much about me." She sighed at him.

"Are you sure I don’t disgust you and you just bear me to pass time?" What will it take to make him believe he didn’t disgust her, it was far opposite but she wouldn’t reveal everything to him. How much she wanted to touch him, so many times? The feelings he evoked in her deepest pits.

"You don’t," she turned her face away from him with these words for his eyes were setting her on fire again and she was tired of burning down without actually burning down from his existence.

Just then a whistle sounded and indicated to the drivers that the race was about to start in the next ten seconds. Xiran finally peeled his eyes off her and took a deep breath to calm his inner demons.

"3, 2, 1!!!!! Let’s Race...." shouted the Manager and the roar of engines filled the air.