The Supreme Sovereign Returns

Chapter 008

Night had fallen over the city.

A silver Aurelian tore through the streets at breakneck speed, weaving into traffic and darting past car after car. Angry drivers shouted curses in its wake. Two identical Corvanes, one white and one black, followed close behind, though far less stable. They swerved wildly, nearly crashing several times as they struggled to keep pace.

"Son of a bitch!" Blondie gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, tension radiating through his entire frame.

The Aurelian was simply too fast. Blondie considered himself a decent driver, but navigating crowded streets while tracking the Aurelian's movements and dodging other vehicles pushed him to his absolute limit. His scalp prickled with sweat as he fought to maintain control of the Corvane. No matter how hard he pushed, the distance between them refused to close.

Inside the Aurelian, Rosalie Calloway felt the acceleration pressing her deeper into the passenger seat. Her entire body trembled uncontrollably. She had never, in her entire life, been in a car moving this fast. Dizziness washed over her in waves, though this time it had nothing to do with the drug. The moment she'd felt the speed climb, clarity had slammed into her with crystal sharpness. She'd never felt more awake, more aware, more terrified.

This man was insane. Completely and utterly insane.

Her teeth chattered as she tried to form words, to tell this lunatic beside her to slow down, but her voice refused to cooperate. All she could manage was keeping herself from screaming, clinging desperately to whatever shred of dignity she had left.

"Go ahead and scream," Cassian Reed said casually, his eyes gleaming with an almost feral light. His tone remained utterly calm. "It's not embarrassing."

"I..." Rosalie's teeth continued to chatter. She wanted to maintain some semblance of composure, to preserve her dignity in front of this stranger, but then the Aurelian lurched violently. The speed surged again, more intense than before, more thrilling and terrifying than any roller coaster she'd ever been on. Her resolve shattered completely. A scream tore from her throat, raw and desperate.

Cassian laughed, a deep, genuine sound that filled the car. He'd deliberately tapped the brakes just to startle her, and her pitiful shriek was oddly endearing. He couldn't help but grin. Since his rebirth a thousand years in the future, he hadn't felt this light, this free. No burdens weighing him down. No attachments holding him back. No constant vigilance against death lurking around every corner.

Just pure, unrestrained madness.

He took a drag from his cigarette, his smile gradually hardening as he glanced at the rearview mirror. The two Corvanes were still closing in, persistent as bloodhounds. A dangerous edge crept into his expression. The timing was nearly perfect. If he didn't flip these two cars soon...

Tonight was going to get very interesting.

Cassian returned his attention to the road ahead. Not far in the distance, a massive dump truck loaded with sand and gravel lumbered along in the right lane. Any experienced driver knew the cardinal rule: never follow directly behind a large truck. Their blind spots were massive, their sight lines severely limited. Accidents happened all too easily.

Naturally, no one was driving behind the dump truck. The nearest vehicle maintained at least three car lengths of distance.

Cassian's lips curved into a predatory smile. On highways and city streets alike, large trucks were the most lethal obstacles. A sedan versus a dump truck was like bronze versus diamond, a mismatch so severe it wasn't even a contest. This truck would be perfect for shaking his pursuers.

"Miss," Cassian said, glancing at Rosalie with a wicked gleam in his eye. "Hold on tight. I'm about to open this thing up."

Before Rosalie could respond, Cassian slammed the brakes. The Aurelian fishtailed beautifully as he whipped the wheel, executing a perfect drift that sent them sliding into the right lane. They shot directly toward the dump truck. His handling was flawless, every movement smooth and precise. This luxury car was a dream to drive, responding to his every command like an extension of his own body.

Behind them, the Gould family's men immediately noticed the change.

"He's slowing down!" Blondie felt a surge of excitement. Finally, an opening.

"Be careful!" crackled a voice through his phone.

In the black Corvane, a man with a severe Buzz cut sat in the driver's seat. Buzz watched the Aurelian suddenly decelerate and change lanes, and something about it didn't sit right with him. He couldn't put his finger on exactly what felt wrong, but his instincts were screaming warnings.

"Screw that!" Blondie barked back. "This punk's getting scared! He's losing his nerve!"

Blondie laughed harshly and floored the accelerator. If the Aurelian was slowing down, he sure as hell wasn't going to. The white Corvane surged forward, rapidly closing the gap. Suddenly, Blondie's eyes widened as he realized where the Aurelian had positioned itself.

Right behind the dump truck.

"Idiot's asking to die!" Blondie snarled.

As an experienced driver, he knew the unspoken rules of the road. Tailgating a dump truck was practically suicide, especially during a high-speed chase. The situation was perfect. All he had to do was pin the Aurelian from behind, box it in, and force it straight into the truck. Even if they survived, they'd be crippled for life.

"Watch yourself!" Buzz's voice cut through the phone again, more urgent this time. He'd eased off his own accelerator, his caution overriding his aggression. Something about this felt like a trap. "Baldy's people said this guy can fight. Took down several of our guys in under a minute. Baldy got his mouth burned so bad he still can't talk. You'd better be damn careful. If something goes wrong, I'm not dying with you, but the Gould heir will have both our heads! You understand me?!"

"Stop whining like a coward!" Blondie roared back, his eyes blazing with fury. "I'm doing this job for the Gould heir, not for you! You're just pissed that I'm driving faster, trying to pull me back so you can take the credit! Well, forget it! I'm bringing this girl back to the Gould heir myself, with my own two hands!"

He ended the call with a vicious stab of his finger and stomped the accelerator to the floor. The white Corvane darted between vehicles like a fish through water, overtaking car after car with reckless abandon. Within seconds, it was nearly on the Aurelian's bumper. Blondie gritted his teeth and executed a sharp drift, whipping the Corvane into the adjacent lane and latching onto the Aurelian like a predator cornering its prey.

"Die, you bastard!" Blondie screamed, pressing the accelerator down with savage force.

The engine roared, a deep, grinding rumble that grew increasingly harsh. The Corvane wasn't a sports car. It wasn't even particularly high-end. Compared to Rosalie's Aurelian, it was worth a fraction of the price, and its performance showed it. The prolonged chase had pushed the engine past its limits. It was overheating now, emitting an ear-splitting whine of mechanical strain.

Blondie didn't care. He kept pushing forward, heedless of the danger.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Rosalie's face had gone deathly pale. She scrabbled desperately for something to hold onto, anything to anchor herself, but found nothing. Finally, she seized her seatbelt with both hands and clung to it like a lifeline, though it offered no comfort whatsoever.

The situation was crystal clear and utterly hopeless. A massive truck blocked the path ahead. Pursuers closed in from behind, relentless and unforgiving. If Cassian accelerated to avoid the Corvane ramming them from behind, they'd crash straight into the dump truck. If he stayed where they were, the Corvane would slam into them and send them careening into the truck anyway.

Two choices, and both of them ended in death.

"Relax," Cassian said, his voice infuriatingly calm as he exhaled a lazy smoke ring. His eyes gleamed with an almost playful ease. If the two Corvanes had been cautious, if they'd held back and refused to close in, that would have been mildly inconvenient. But now that they were charging straight at him, reckless and overconfident...

Well then. He'd be happy to send them off.

"But..." Rosalie's heart hammered against her ribs. She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could get another word out, a tremendous force slammed into her from the side. Her body lifted off the seat, held down only by the seatbelt cutting across her chest and waist. Without it anchoring her in place, she would have been thrown around the cabin, dazed and reeling from the violent motion.