Lex giggled and started the car, looking over at Faal as he revved the engine. "Gotta get there first." he replied, glanced back to see the charger pull out and followed it.

The drive to South End road was relatively quick. A four mile stretch of deserted road out side of town, now lined almost the entire way with cars and people. The cars that were racing were lining up side by side the end. Lex pulled up between Dom GTO and Shane's Charger and looked at his watch. They had about ten minutes.

Aiyla appeared at his window and he rolled it down. "Rowen's at the far end." She nodded with her chin. Lex restrained himself from looking that way. "you watch your ass, Lexine." Aiyla said seriously, before glancing at Faal. "Ya know, they usually don't let passengers in these races..."

"then I’ll disappear...I can pull an invisible glamour as easily as my regular one.. but Lex promised I'd could race with him and I'm not letting that chance slip by." Faal gave her an amused look before adding. "You're just jealous anyhow... you'd like to ride along with a certain someone to, no doubt.."

"Excuse me, Dom and I are just friends." Aiyla replied with a look.

"Either way, you're just mad you can't ride with him, or be behind the wheel yourself." Lex said, one hand drumming the fingers on the steering wheel, he could almost feel Rowen looking through the other cars at him.

Aiyla snorted and patted Lex on the shoulder before standing straight. "One of these days you'll have to race me, Lexine." She said with an amused look.

"Any time Aiyla, better move, they're gettin' ready." Lex said nodding forward as three people stood in front of the cars chatting a moment, one holding a checkered flag.

Faal chuckled. "This is fun.. do you think they'd actually ask me to get out? Should I actually make myself invisible?" he asked Lex, reaching over and letting his hand lay on Lex's leg for a moment. " Can I ride along when you race Aiyla... hmm. on second though.. maybe I'll get behind the wheel as well... if you'll give me a few pointers..."

Lex glanced away from the three people in front of the car to look at Faal with a grin. "They're not going to ask you to get out, it's to late now." He nodded back to the three people. Two of them moved away and the one with the flag moved to the side, uncurling the flag.

All the cars on the line revved their engines. Lex glanced over to see Shane smirking at him, he glanced to the other side to see Dom's smirk. Before Dom's window and two other cars his gaze met Rowen's who gave him a devious smirk. Lex shook his head, turning his gaze back to the stretch of road.

He shifted in the driver's seat, one hand on the steering wheel, the other on the gear shift. His heart was pounding and he wondered if Faal could hear it. There was always a rush of excitement for him when the flag was about to drop. It was one of the parts of racing that he loved.

He counted out the three count, watching the flag raising slowly. On three it dropped and Lex slammed on the gas pedal. The mustang launched forward off the line, between the charger and the GTO, there was a fire bird slowly creeping up on the other side of the charger and Lex thought he saw the camero on the other side. In fact the Camero started creeping forward past the GTO.

Lex shook his head slightly seeing this. "No, no, you don't..." He muttered mostly to himself, before double shifting and putting more pressure on the gas pedal. The mustang shot from between the charger and the GTO approaching the first mile, and slowly climbing toward 90. That wasn't the best she could do.

Now the Mustang and Camero were neck to neck, the camero slowly moving forward away from them. Lex's hand left the gear shift a minute, slammed the cd into the cd player, while still watching Rowen and the camero. 'Ballroom Blitz' In the side mirror he saw the charger coming up close.

Lex's hand went from the cd player to the first red switch above the radio and he threw it, the mustang charged forward again, now hitting 110 and started past the camero. He caught a slight scowl from Rowen and just for the effort, threw the second switch. That left him with the third and the one in the glove box. "I hope you remember that switch in the glove compartment." He said to Faal.

The camero attempted to get ahead again, but Lex wasn't going to have any bit of that, and jerked the wheel, sliding into the place before the camero. Rowen had to go half onto the side of the road, slowing him down as the mustang took the outer lane and Lex giggled nervously.

Two miles left.

Faal was in heaven. He was leaning back casually in the seat, a huge grin on his face. At Lex's words he popped the glove compartment open. "Just say the word, Lex." He cast a grin towards the re head. "You know, if I weren't dating you, I'd hire you as my personal driver.."

"Personal driver?!" Lex glanced at him with a slight look of indignation. "I don't play chauffer for just anyone."

He should have kept his attention on the race, because the camero suddenly came up on his side and slammed into the side of the mustang. Lex yelped, grabbing the steering wheel with both hands and jerked hard to the left to keep the mustang from veering dangerously to right.

He felt and heard the camero scrap up against the left side and swore, before flipping the third switch. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the charger on the other side of the camero, they were all three less then a mile from the finishing line. When he'd flipped the switch, the mustang shot forward, starting to leave the other two behind, but the camero attempted to hit the back side.

"The switch in the glove compartment, throw it." Lex growled. Once Faal did so, Lex slammed on the gas, and the mustang hit 140. Lex had never pushed it at a hundred and forty, he'd never had to before now. He felt rather then heard the rod being thrown in the engine block, just as the mustang crossed the finish line. And he was about to stop, when two things happened at once.

Something black and eerie crossed by his line of sight in front of the car and Lex simultaneously slammed on the breaks, while cranking the steering wheel, to avoid hitting it, throwing the mustang into a 360 degree spin. And as it came to a rest, the camero slammed hard into the driver's side, the charger slamming into the back of the camero. The impact, caused Lex to slam his head against the steering wheel and dash board and he realized as the darkness of fainting, that this was his third serious crash.

The driver's side was smashed in badly, and there was either steam or smoke rolling out from under the hood. Other then the deep laceration on his forehead and temple and maybe a broken rib, some bruises and minor cuts, Lex was only unconscious.

Dom and Aiyla appeared, Dom reaching through the shattered drivers window to shut the engine off, Aiyla was on the passenger's side, yanking the door open, and looked close to hysterical. "Oh my God!! Faal are you...Is Lex..." She couldn't finish a sentence.

Shane yanked open the door of the camero, practically ripping it open, but Rowen...was gone. The car was empty, the engine still going. Dom was undoing Lex's seat belt. "You'll have to pull him out through the passenger side!"

"And FAST!" Shane yelled, pointing. Dom looked, the gas line had been ruptured and it WAS smoke, not steam, rolling from under the hood. "Son of a bitch! The car's on fire!" He was around the passenger's side, moving a suddenly frozen Aiyla.

Faal wasn't sure if he was hurt or not.. he couldn't feel anything except fear for Lex. He already had his arms under Lex's legs and was trying to get them out from where they were pinned. Dom yanked back on the wheel as hard as he could and Faal managed to get Lex's legs free and drag him across the seat, sliding out of the car ahead of him. He scooped Lex into his arms and stumbled away, calling his powers around them like a shield as he staggered away from the burning car.

Everyone staggered away from the two cars and as far away as possible. Shane joined the others, and as he and Dom turned back to look at the mustang and camero, the inevitable happened. The explosion was quite intense.

"What happened t' Rowen?" Aiyla asked Shane softly as they watched the two cars burning.

"Wasn't in the car...must've used a shadow portal." Shane answered, before shaking his head. "Lex ain't gonna be happy 'bout the mustang."

The area was clearing fast, racers and observers both knowing to get the hell out, before the cops showed up. "We'd better get the fuck out of here." Dom muttered. "Fuzz'll wanna know how it happened, and since it's rather illegal to be doin' these races 'round here..."

Shane turned to Faal and nodded to his charger. "I'll give you guys a ride. Aiyla, ya wanna come a long?"

Aiyla shook her head. "Nah, Dom's got it covered. I just hope Lex isn't seriously hurt. Are you alright, Faal?

Faal nodded absently. "Yes, yes.. thank you Aiyla, I'm fine. Just bumps and bruises I think. A little shaky but I'll be fine. So will Lex, I think as soon as I can get him out of here."

He waved them off, then carried Lex to Shane's car and between the two of them managed to get him in.

Shane closed the door and moved around to the driver's side. He paused long enough to cast the scene of the wreck a look and swear before slipping into the driver's seat. Dom was right, if the cops came along, they'd all be in trouble, as it was an illegal race. And now with the burning wreck of the accident...Shane swore again, starting the charger. In the distance he could hear the sirens getting closer.

He pulled away from the scene, turning on to a back road and speeding a long. "I'm going to go around a long away...better chance of avoiding the cops. " Shane told Faal, turning onto another back road. "A bit of a drive, but better safe then sorry, as my dad always says." Once he dropped Faal and Lex off somewhere safe, he intended to go looking for Rowen, if anything just to beat the fuck out of him. "Where do you want me to drop you guys?"

Lex whimpered, starting to come back around. His head was pounding heavily and he felt light headed. His right leg also hurt terribly and his side was hurting as well. "Faal..." He moaned, trying to open his eyes, although he couldn't quite get anything to work.

"Shh.. stay still, Lex. I'm right here. " Faal said softly, stroking his hair. "Can you tell me what hurts, love?" his attention was focused solely on Lex and he didn't even notice where they were going or how fast...

"Oh...just about everywhere..." Lex moaned. "Head, side, leg...what happened to the car?!" He finally managed to open his eyes only to have whatever light hit them shoot a sharp pain through his head.

"Er...well...we sorta had to leave it back at South End Road." Shane said from the driver's seat. "It didn't quite make it this time, Lexi."

"What do you mean?!" Lex's voice was slightly hysterical.

"Well it's sort of on fire at the moment...and badly damaged." Shane replied.

"My mustang!" Lex attempted to sat up more, but got far to dizzy and lightheaded and ended up falling back against Faal with a moan.

"Sorry, Lexi." Shane said sympathetically.

Faal cradled Lex against him. "Lex, love. please... stay still. I think you most likely have a concussion at least, and probably a fracture or two... Don't worry about the car right now.. I have a garage or two full, you can have your pick.. Or I’ll buy you anything you'd like... I heard Steve McQueen was going to sell his..."

Shane snorted, hearing that. "Now there's a car." He muttered, as he kept his eyes on the road. He was just turning a corner when something black and slithery came up along side of the charger on the passenger's side. Shane barely glimpsed it out of the corner of his eye, but caught sight of it in the side mirror. "What the fuck..." He muttered, shifting down, to drop the speed.

The black slithery thing, seemed to roll around in front of the car. It didn't really have a shape, just a mass of blackness in the headlights and it seemed to turn to aim straight at the charger.

"Son of a bitch is using a shadow assassin." Shane snarled, glancing over his shoulder, before throwing the charger in reverse, spun the wheel, threw the car in to drive and kept an eye on the black shapeless thing that was pursuing them.

Lex looked over Faal, out the back window. "That...that thing, that's what darted in front of me!"

"That's what caused you to wreck?" Shane asked.

"Yus!"

"Tricky of Rowen...I'll have to throw in an extra good beating for that." Shane replied with a growl.

Faal scowled at the thing outside. "I don't remember seeing or sensing anything before the crash... I'd like to know how he's getting these things past me... First the spell on the car shattered and now this thing.. damn..." he muttered suddenly remembering he had Lex's bracelet in his pocket. He'd retrieved it and the fake earlier that day from the jewelers and had placed the fake in a fancy little case for Lex... but he'd never had a chance to get rid of the damned original. There must be some sort of spell on it in addition to the original curse.

Faal stroked Lex’s hair gently as he scowled out the window. He had the feeling as long as he had the damned thing on him, his magic wouldn't be of much help against Rowen and his tricks... but he couldn't just get rid of it with Lex right here...

"Shane... I sincerely hope you know how to deal with these things..." he said softly.

"I've dealt with a couple." Shane answered, as he drove. "Can't do shit with it until it becomes solid though.” The thing came up on the passenger's side of the car and almost looked like it was going to try and open the back door. "Hold on!" Shane said, jerking the wheel hard and turning a corner at top speed.

Lex watched the thing float past and disappear into the darkness, but he had a feeling it wasn't gone for good yet.

Shane was ticking off locations in his head where it would be best to get rid of the damned thing. They needed a good sized area with enough light.

*Think man think!* Faal yelled at himself. *You know the bastard has the bracelet spelled... that's why you had the copy made, so he couldn't trace Lex through the damned thing anymore.* No doubt the bracelet was how the shadow assassin was tracking them... he just had to think of a way to get rid of the damned bracelet with out Lex seeing and knowing about the switch; Which was going to be rather hard to do when Lex was practically sitting on his lap in the close confines of a car racing along at an extremely high rate of speed...

"So how does it get solid?!" Lex asked, trying to peer through the windows to see where the shadow went.

Shane snorted, glancing in the review mirror at Lex with amusement. "It's gotta get it's claws on ya. It can't kill ya unless it becomes solid. It's single minded and impossible to destroy until it DOES get solid...Lex, I need somewhere with a lot of light. Quick, my mind's drawing a blank." He said seriously.

"Um...uh..." Lex closed his eyes, leaning against Faal, he needed to think, but the pain in his head and leg was causing that to be rather hard. "Where are we?"

"Country road 456." Shane answered, as they raced around a corner; nothing but country around them.

"The train yard; it's ALWAYS brightly lit and it's only a mile and a half from here." Lex answered, opening his eyes.

Shane considered the odds, weighting the pros and cons. "Train yard it is." He answered after a moment, increasing the speed. "Sit tight, Lexi."

Lex gave a small shaky nervous laugh. "As if I'm going anywhere..." He muttered, clinging to Faal. The shadow passed on the passenger's side again, almost slamming into the car.