Chapter Eleven

They were about fifteen minutes out of Bozeman and Storm was running out of options. He knew the closer he got to Razor, the harder it was going to be to get away. The man was old, but he was tough, and worse he never traveled anywhere without at least four or five family members. Razor had been a man fascinated by the biker culture of the nineteen fifties, and had never adapted his style of living, or dressing, ever since.

Storm had gone through his few options. Jumping off the back of a motorcycle going at speed would likely hurt, and it wasn't as though he could shift until he'd got himself out of sight of the road. There was also the possibility his damned brother would just stop the bike and go hunting for him, and Storm didn't want to take the time to kill the nuisance just for being a nuisance. An assassin had to have standards, otherwise Storm would be no better than the bear he'd killed the night before.

Stunning his brother and taking off with his bike was another option. In theory, Storm could get back to the workshop and Cyrus could strip the bike down for parts, while he was doing the groveling he needed to get back into his pixie's good graces. The problem with a plan like that was it counted on an awful lot of variables going his way…and Storm had clearly run out of luck for the day.

Still working out how long it might take to render his brother unconscious, and if he could do that without the bike veering into oncoming traffic, Storm stiffened when his crocodile stopped ranting about leaving their mate behind and started focusing on something else.

What the…? It was difficult to hear anything over the noise of Bullet's bike. It wasn't like the lazy ass maintained it or anything. But as the noise got closer, Storm grinned. He knew that engine. He'd been in that car. Damn you Python, you were meant to be staying home looking after Pax. But it made him feel good, knowing his friends cared.

Tapping Bullet's shoulder, he yelled, "I think there's something wrong with your engine. You should probably pull over and check. It's probably a dirty plug or something."

"There's nothing wrong with this bike. It sounds like it always does."

Like crap you mean. "Are you sure, man? There's a car coming up behind us real fast. Makes it look like you're standing still."

Of course, Bullet accelerated with a sharp wrench of his accelerator. He really didn't have two brain cells to rub together. Storm debated for a split second – to hang on and let the bike come to a natural demise, or he could pick door number two.

Relaxing his body, Storm let go of the side of the seat he'd been holding, letting the force of the acceleration push him off the back of the bike. Thank goodness Bullet didn't have a back bar.

Remembering to tuck his head under just in time, he flipped and rolled, coming to a stop splayed out on the asphalt. Fuck, that hurt. But as fast as he thought it, Storm had to roll again, aiming for the side of the road, as Python's car came skidding to a halt, missing his head by inches. Asshole, he thought fondly, still unable to catch his breath.

But it wasn't his friend who got out of the car. The passenger door opened, and a furious little pixie jumped out, storming over to him.

"What in a pickled pepper's name do you think you were doing falling off that bike? Is something wrong with your arms? Haven't you got the common sense to hang on like you're supposed to. It's bad enough, I was being driven by this demon who couldn't keep his eyes on the damn road, and he's speeding like a maniac while he kept trying to work out how fast it would take for us to catch up to you. He's a freaking maniac. You're a freaking idiot. He tried to tell me you were professionals at this hero stuff. You fell off the damn bike!"

"Oh, precious." Storm coughed and tried again, pushing his front half up with his hands. "You're still talking to me. I'm so glad."

"Still talking to you? I'm going to be yelling at you at breakfast a week from Sunday about this." Pax raging was so cute. "Gods, I guess I have to get you up. Look at the mess you made of yourself." Storm felt a gentle boost of magic helping him to stand. "I'm furious at you. And look at him. The helpful demon, taking a freaking video, so he can show his friends most likely. But you. Is your wallet okay?" Pax came over brushing off bits of dust, stones and road debris from his pants.

"My wallet's fine." Storm reached around, patting his back pocket. "Still got plenty of cash to buy you those donuts I promised you."

"You promised more than donuts, mister. You promised to buy me every cake in Gwen's cake shop. And I'm not going to let you eat a crumb of any of them." Pax had taken his arm and was helping him to the car. "Any man who can't take care of himself long enough to stay on the back of the bike clearly doesn't have a stomach worthy of processing sweet things. Did I tell you how annoyed I was seeing you come off that bike like that. You could've taken ten years off my life…"

"I hate to break up this touching reunion," Python said, "but that bike is coming back. How do you want to handle this?"

"Just shoot him and call the cleaners," Pax grumped. "Customers could be back at the bakery buying up my cakes."

"I'll get Gwen to make you more," Storm said gently. He was fast getting a handle on how his sweet pixie dealt with stress. "Can you play the worried citizen for five minutes. If Python says I have to get to the hospital or something similar…"

"Oh, great, now I've got to play the weeping willy. Clearly this being a mate business is more complicated than I thought. This is going to cost you more donuts, Storm…"

"Don't mention the mate business," Storm warned quickly. "That man is one of my many brothers and we do not want anyone in my family knowing about us. They are bad business. I mean really bad business."

"Showtime," Python warned quietly as Bullet's bike pulled up alongside Python's car.

"Shaz? What the fuck man? Did you lose the use of your fingers?" Bullet didn't get off his bike, just left it rumbling so everyone had to yell over it. "Get your butt back on this bike. Dad's waiting to see you."