Chapter 1:

With music blaring from cars plus the DJ's sound system, it was hard to tell which song was coming from where. Which made it damn near impossible for Alli to hear her cell if it rang. Putting it on vibrate would do no good either because of the bass speakers making everything else vibrate.

Alli sighed and turned to her baby. A black Gixxer Hayabusa. She ran her hand over the seat contemplating ditching the show. This was the first time since she'd been away that she'd brought her Gixxer out. And it just had to be at a bike/car exposé show.

Her parents were somewhere around and she doubted that they would hear their cells ringing either. She sighed again.

"Excuse me," someone said from behind her.

She turned only to come face to face with two guys she used to have crushes on. How the hell did they find each other? She didn't know they were acquaintances. Just lovely.

"Hi," she said uncertainly.

The two guys stared at her for a couple of seconds before recognition sunk in.

"Alli?" Kevin asked. Kevin was a year older than her and he was still kinda cute but he didn't hold any appeal for her anymore.

"Hi," Alli repeated lamely

'Can someone die of embarrassment?' she thought. She was dressed in bike leathers. Fitted black jeans, her riding boots, a black halter top and her fingerless riding gloves. Her jacket was hung over the handlebars. Since they'd last met, she'd gotten two tattoos and pierced her ears twice more and acquired a lip ring. And she was only seventeen.

And then there was Trevor. He had been in her class for as long as she could remember. She's had a crush on him for four years. Four wasted years of her life. Sure he was cute, smart, funny and athletic. He was also arrogant, a pain in the ass and a general asshole most times.

Alli stood staring at the guys. There had to be a reason they approached her in the first place. When they showed no inclination of speaking, she did.

"So, what do you want?"

"Oh…ah…umm…" Trevor said.

"Spit it out," she ordered.

"Kevin wanted your number," he blurted out, earning a glare from Kevin and a smirk from Alli.

"Well, I seem to remember exchanging numbers with both of you a while back so unless you've lost it, you're not getting it again. I haven't changed it."

They both looked away from each other. Just then, she felt someone else behind her. Again.

"Uh…hey." Another male voice.

She turned again only to come face to face with someone she hadn't seen in years and honestly, never wanted to see ever again.

"What?" Alli asked frigidly.

"Alli?"

"No shit Sherlock. What do you want?"

"He wanted your number."

Alli drew in her anger a little and noticed the other guy she didn't want to see.

"Well Darius, last I checked, you had it and so did he," she said indicating her ex-boyfriend, "unless you both got rid of it which I hope dearly."

"Still a bitch I see," Darius said.

"I have good reason," Alli replied. Dave, the asshole, wisely remained silent. He'd learnt in the couple of months that they were together and even after they broke up to stay quiet when she was pissed.

And then her cell which was in her hand vibrated. She flipped it open without looking at the Caller ID.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know how fucking whacked my parents are?" one of her best friends fired at her.

"Allie, chill. What's up?"

"'What's up?' is that my parents dragged me to this flipping car/bike show and then ditched me. I'm standing her all alone."

"Awww…I'm sorry. But what show? Where?"

"Some god-forsaken place. I don't know."

"Thanks for the help," Alli said sarcastically. "But aren't there banners and posters?"

There was a pause. Alli only heard music and she didn't know where it was coming from. Could it be a coincidence that she was hearing an echo of the music playing through the phone?

The thing was, she didn't believe in coincidences.

"Allie?! Allie?!" she shouted.

"Ow! What? I was looking," Allie complained.

"Is the DJ, DJ Fynn?" Alli asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You're not alone chick. I'm here. I'm close to the entrance. Come find me. I've got my Busa."

"Yee-ah. I'm coming."

"See you in a few." Alli ended the call smiling broadly until she realized that all four guys were staring at her. "What?" she asked.

"Did you just say 'your Busa'?" Darius asked.

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

All the guys moved their gazes to the bike. Then Dave spoke.

"You have a Gixxer?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

He shrugged just as a girl with crimson streaked hair appeared on the opposite side of the bike.

"Bitch you didn't say you had company."

Alli sighed for the umpteenth time. "Allie this is Dave, Darius, Kevin and Trevor." Each guy gave some sort of indication when he heard his name.

Alli watched as her equally crazy best friend's mouth formed an 'O'. Then Allie came to stand at her side.

"You didn't tell me that Kevin was that cute," she whispered al little too loudly considering that a whisper meant speaking at regular volume. At the close proximity at which they were standing, the guys heard.

Trevor snickered, Dave and Darius looked at each other and then at Alli and Kevin stared at the ground.

Allie looked at the guys and saw their expressions then whispered in Alli's ear again. Still too loudly.

"They heard didn't they?"

Her best friend nodded. Allie groaned and then proceeded to hide behind her friend. Alli laughed. And then there was a period of awkwardness.

The four guys didn't know what to say, Allie was too embarrassed to speak and Alli was still contemplating ditching.

She looked at her bike again and then remembered something. She beckoned to Allie.

She squatted and told Allie to do the same. Then she showed her the Alliey symbol in gold right near the gears. All three of the Allieys had one tattoo in common. The Alliey symbol. A hollowed out six pointed star with a flame. Each had it in a different spot.

Allie's was on her left forearm, just under the crease of her elbow. Alli's was on the back of her neck and Ally their other best friend had hers on her right shoulder.

"Wicked," Allie breathed.

They straightened and Alli smiled. "I know."

That was when she saw him.

He was the sole reason the male species of the human race could any credit for existing.

He was so sexy, it was pure sin. He was tall, really tall about 6' 5" and would dwarf her 5' 3". His hair was shoulder length, midnight black with a single red streak and dead straight. They had something in common. Her hair was shoulder length too, a little wavy with red ends.

He wore black jeans, riding boots, a black A7X (Avenged Sevenfold for those of you who don't know) T-shirt, chains on his pants and a black leather riding jacket.

His clothes only made him look hotter. They clung to him. Not in the gay way. But rather, emphasized his broad shoulder and totally ripped body.

And he was coming directly at her.

Alli grabbed her best friend's arm in a death grip.

"What?"

"Look at that guy," Alli ordered. Allie did and gaped.

"My God."

"I know."

That was when he stopped.

"Is this yours?" he asked. Alli almost fainted. He had the most blood-heating accent she'd ever heard in her entire life. She was about to respond when she realized that he wasn't speaking to her but to Kevin. And Kevin was trying to explain that it wasn't. Oh hell.

"Excuse me," Alli said to get his attention.

"Yes?"

"Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for the owner of this bike. Can you help me?"

'No one should be able to sound like that,' she thought almost giving in to him. But, she didn't.

"That depends on why you want to find her."

He looked shocked. "Her? The owner is a girl?"

"Yeah, I just said that." Patience is a virtue, one she didn't possess. "Why do you want her?"

"Well, uh…" he started. He had never met a girl like her before. And he didn't even know her name. She was the first girl he'd ever met who hadn't been totally susceptible to his charms.

"I'm waiting," she said.

"Well I have a Gixxer too and was wondering if we could have a street race."

She deliberated a moment.

"Okay fine. Let's do this," she said startling him again.

"Wait, you're the owner?" he asked bewildered.

"Yeah. Alli Marshall, nice to meet you."

"You're Alli Marshall?" he asked again.

She frowned. "Do you have a hearing problem?"

"No. I'm Alex Parthenopaeus."

She froze. No fucking way could he be Alex Parthenopaeus. He was top of the guys' league. No wonder he had to ask her name again. Just as Alexandros Parthenopaeus was the top of the guys' league, Alli Marshall was top of the girls'.

"This is going to be interesting isn't it?" Alli asked.

Alex nodded. "Very."

Allie sighed and said, "You know, we have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sorry. Allie this is Alexandros Parthenopaeus. He's the top of the Under 20 Pro circuit."

"This is that Alex? No way." Allie was staring at him in awe. Then she turned back to her best friend. "You're right. This is going to be interesting."

Then Darius spoke. "Would you all mind telling us what the hell's going on?"

Before Alli could answer, Allie did. "Alex is the top of the Under 20 men's circuit and Alli is the top of the Under 20 women's circuit. Get it?"

The four dumbstruck boys stared at Alli and Alex. After a minute or so, everything had finally sunken in and they nodded.

Alli was accustomed to the staring. But usually, it was from people she didn't know and they were usually a good couple of meters away. With her four 'friends' staring at her at such close proximity, she became a bit uneasy.

Alex saw her discomfort. And for some reason unknown to him, he wanted to get rid of it.

"Alli?" he said.

He instantly had her attention. Maybe she wasn't totally immune to his gifts. Sometimes it was good to be the son of an eleven thousand year old Atlantean god. Not that many knew that he was anyway.

"Alex?"

"Um…Are we gonna race?" he asked.

Her eyes sparked. "Definitely. Did you think I'd back out?"

He smiled at her. "Nope. I know your record. You never back out of a challenge."

Alli's heart pounded furiously in her chest. If he was sexy before, she needed to find a new adjective to describe him when he smiled. No one should have his smile.

But she needed to smile back. He knew her file. She knew his too, of course, but it was still nice to know all the same.

"So are we gonna do this or what?" she asked.

"Let me take you over to my bike and I'll introduce you to the idiots who insisted on coming."

"Sure," Alli replied. She turned to the rest of the guys-she already knew for a fact that Allie was coming- and asked, "Are you all gonna be the rest of idiots insisting on coming?"

She knew that a question like that would have usually earned her some 'bitch' comments but apparently, the guys were all still in awe of her. So all they did was nod.

Alli took her jacket off the handlebars and put it on. She was about to raise the kickstand but Alex beat her to it. She looked up at him confused.

"I figure since I challenged you, I can at least move your bike for you."

"Okay, sure." She stepped back and allowed him to take the handlebars. For the slightest moment, their fingers brushed against each other. She felt it straight down to her toes. And she was sure she was blushing.

Allie confirmed it after they began following Alex.

"You like him, don't you?" she asked.

Alli gave her friend a 'duh' look. Allie giggled. "How cool would that be though? The top riders in both circuits? A match made in heaven."

"Shut up."

Alex could hear with perfect clarity what the girls were saying. He smiled to himself. It would be quite the coupling. But he could see it. And he wanted it. It was a damn shame that his powers didn't allow him to see his future.

His name meant 'defender of mankind' and he couldn't see his future. How jacked up was that? But still, he was the son on Acheron and Soteria, that made him immortal and because his mother possessed some of his grandmother's powers, that made him a full god. Their pantheon wasn't big enough to have titles delegated. They basically could do whatever, 'cause they were majorly bad-ass. But his grandmother and father definitely had titles.

His grandmother was Apollymi Akrakaatastriefia. Apollymi the Great Destroyer. She was the Atlantean goddess of a whole other bunch of shit too. And when their pantheon was thriving, she was married to Archon- the king of the Atlantean gods. This made her queen…theoretically of course.

His father, Acheron was actually Apostolos, the Harbinger of Telikos. Ultimately, the bringer of the end of the world. If he freed his mother. But that wasn't going to happen 'cause Ash was just too nice a guy and went through too much shit to give up everything now.

They were all walking along and suddenly, Allie's hand came down like a vice on her best friend's forearm.

"What the hell?"

"Shush. Just look."

"No fucking way."

"It is isn't it?"

Then, without warning, both girls began running to someone.

They crashed together.

"What the…it can't be. No. Fucking. Way."

"That's what I said," Alli said with a huge smile on her face. She couldn't believe it. Here she was: Ally Hammonds. How was it possible? The Allieys were together again.

They all hugged again.

Alex watched fascinated. It was so strange. Two girls who looked like they'd raided Hot Topic and one who dressed totally Hollister. Wow. But because he had Alli's bike, he had to follow her.

He was walking to them and he could hear their conversation.

"What are you doing here?" Allie asked.

"My parents. I had no say in the matter. What about you guys?"

"My rentals too."

"I'm still racing. This is one of the stops and my parent saw it and was like 'What the hell?' Then my brothers saw it and well…here I am."

"Still, who would have thought that we would be reunited at a bike show? One that Alli isn't even a part of?"

Allie smiled. "She will be. She's gonna race."

"Race who?"