Inheritance Redefined

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Orion couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

He walked fast, hands jammed in his jacket pockets, shoulders hunched like the air had turned to ice. The evening was warm, but he couldn't feel it. His thoughts spun, looping back again and again to the velvet room, the people in it, the words still echoing in his ears.

He had a sister. A twin sister.

Elara.

His boots struck pavement harder than necessary, each step faster than the last. Orion didn't know where he was going–he just knew he couldn't stay where he was.

Everything felt wrong. Or maybe... it felt too right, like a missing puzzle piece had just snapped into place after years of trying to ignore the empty space.

He'd always known something was off. A subtle disconnection. A feeling like he'd lived life a half-step out of rhythm, always slightly out of focus. Verena–he still couldn't think of her as anything but his mother–had given him structure. A cold structure. Respect, not warmth. Protection, but never affection.

She'd been good. But she hadn't been safe.

Now?

Now the mirror had cracked.
And all he could see was the face that slightly resembled his–
Hers.
Isabella's.

Orion reached his bike without thinking, the sleek black machine parked where he'd left it earlier that day. He swung a leg over, twisted the key, and let the engine snarl to life.

He had no helmet. No gloves. No plan.

Just the noise of the bike and the road in front of him.

---

The underground circuit was already alive by the time Orion arrived. Hidden just past the crumbling train yard, it stretched through unfinished overpasses and hollowed-out warehouse lanes. Graffiti coated the cement walls like war paint. Smoke hung in the air, laced with burnt rubber and the bitter tang of cheap beer.

Engines revved. Music thumped. The pulse of the city's outlaw heart beat loud and fast here.

Orion pulled in. Heads turned.

He didn't need to say a word.

"Drakos is here," someone muttered under their breath.

The starter girl with pink hair and a silver nose ring–stepped forward. "You racing?"

Orion nodded once.

She eyed him. "You look like you wanna die or kill someone. Which is it?"

Orion didn't answer. He just revved the throttle.

The flag dropped.

---

The bike surged forward like it had a death wish of its own.

Wind howled past Orion's ears. His eyes watered. He took the first curve too fast, nearly clipped a dumpster, but he didn't slow down.

The city blurred around him–streetlamps flashing like strobe lights, shadows stretched long and sharp. The pavement hissed under his tires.

And in his head, everything screamed.

She's your sister.

Your whole life was a lie.

Orion leaned into a hairpin turn, the tire skimming the guardrail. Gravel shot out behind him. One mistake and he'd crash.

Maybe he wanted to.

The final lap was tighter. Orion cut through a construction zone, tires bumping over cracked asphalt, a broken wooden pallet flying past his leg. The wind wasn't enough to drown the noise in his chest.