Page 102 of Emperor of Wrath

I nod. “I mean…well enough.”

He glances at Hana, then back to me. “Define well enough.”

“Tak…” his twin says, a warning note in her voice.

“What, I’m just asking.”

I cock a brow. “What do you mean by well enough?”

His manic, wolfish smile widens, like he’s half feral. “I’m asking if you ride well enough to keep up with me.”

“Goddammit,” Hana sighs.

Takeshi grins. “Hana has issues with saying no to a challenge.” His eyes flash dangerously. “Which is why I’m issuing one.”

“You’re an asshole,” Hana grumbles, turning to grin at me before glancing back to her brother. “Fine. What’s the challenge.”

“Race-time, baby.”

Hana frowns. “What, you versus me?”

I can already see the craziness sparking in Takeshi’s eyes before he corrects her. Yeah, a simple race isn’t enough for someone like him.

“Nah,” he grins. “All three of us.”

Her nose wrinkles. “Tak, no. She can’t ride like?—”

“Who says I can’t ride?”

Hana turns to shoot me a look. “I’m not asking if you can ride a motorcycle. I’m asking if you can ride one of Tak’s mostly not street-legal crotch-rockets on steroids.”

“That was you in the back of the stolen Bugatti I drove to Canada, right?”

She grins widely. “Fair.”

“Hell yeah, let’s do this,” Takeshi says gleefully, a manic look all over his face. “Here to Kiyamachi Street. Loser buys two rounds at Club Lotus.”

Hana frowns. “Tak, she doesn’t know Kyoto. She has no idea where that is.”

Takeshi strokes his chin. “Okay, let’s do this. You two are on a team versus me. So you can follow Hana. But,” he grunts, turning to his sister, “you both have to beat me to win.”

Hana sucks on her teeth as she turns to me. I shrug, grinning. “I’m game if you are.”

Takeshi throws me a helmet.

“If you were shitting me about your ability to ride earlier, now would be a good time to say so.”

My only answer is to yank the helmet over my head and flick open the visor. “Just so you know, Takeshi. I like my martinis dry with a twist. Vodka.”

Hana hoots as she hands me a set of keys and points to a neon pink, purple and black bike, while she climbs onto an all-white one with a slash of red down the side like a sword cut.

“Just keep as close to me as you can, yeah?”

I nod, my adrenaline thrumming as I climb onto my bike, watching Takeshi settle astride a matte black beast with a golden dragon curling down the side and an engine that looks like it powered a fighter jet in its previous life.

“Let’s fucking go.”

I may have oversold my motorcycle abilities. I mean, I know how to ride, but I haven’t been on one in like five years.

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