POV: Hex
I should've known peace never lasts.
School ended normally. Boring math. Annoying group work. Marco laughing too loudly at something that wasn't funny.
I ignored him.
I've been ignoring a lot lately.
After class, I waited near the gate for Keiren.
He texted earlier.
Keiren:
My brother's picking me up. Wait with me.
That brother.
Keifer.
The human lie detector.
The overthinker.
The guy who remembers everything.
I leaned against the school wall, scrolling on my phone.
Inner thought:
Jay told me not to worry. She handled it. She always handles it.
Then I heard a car stop.
I didn't look up at first.
Then I felt it.
That stare.
I lifted my head.
Keifer.
Driver's seat.
Watching me.
Not smiling.
Just… watching.
Oh no.
Keiren ran out of the building.
"Bro!" he said cheerfully, getting into the back seat.
I turned slightly.
I could leave.
I should leave.
"Hex."
I froze.
That tone.
Not angry.
Not friendly.
Just direct.
"Get in," Keifer said.
It wasn't a request.
Inner thought:
This is it. I am about to be interrogated.
I opened the passenger door and sat inside.
The car door closed.
Silence.
Engine running.
Keiren happily scrolling in the back, unaware that tension just entered the vehicle.
We drove.
Two minutes.
Three.
Five.
No music.
No talking.
Just heavy air.
Then Keifer spoke.
"Nice mask."
I blinked.
"What?"
"I said," he repeated calmly, "nice mask."
Keiren looked up. "Mask?"
I kept my eyes forward.
"I don't wear masks."
Keifer exhaled softly.
"You're a worse liar than Jay."
My stomach dropped.
He knows.
Keiren looked between us.
"What is happening?"
"Nothing," I said quickly.
"Everything," Keifer corrected.
He turned into a quiet side street and stopped the car.
Engine still on.
He turned slightly to face me.
"You're Night Byte."
Not a question.
A statement.
My chest tightened.
Deny. Deny everything.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He leaned closer slightly.
"You move like him. You talk like him. You disappear when he appears. And last night… I connected the rest."
Silence.
Keiren's eyes widened.
"WAIT. Night Byte like… the Night Byte?"
I didn't look at him.
I looked at Keifer.
His eyes weren't angry.
They were searching.
"You knew," he said quietly. "And you didn't tell me."
I swallowed.
Jay's voice echoed in my head.
Don't tell him. Not yet. He'll get involved.
"She told you not to," Keifer said suddenly.
My eyes flickered.
That was enough.
He nodded once.
"I knew it."
I leaned back in the seat.
"Look," I muttered, "it wasn't my decision."
"So it was her idea."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she didn't want you dragged into it."
Silence.
Keifer's jaw tightened.
"I don't need protection."
I almost laughed.
"You absolutely do."
Keiren gasped dramatically in the back.
"YOU TWO ARE VIGILANTES?"
"Lower your voice," I snapped.
Keifer ignored him.
"She thinks I can't handle it?" he asked.
"No," I said honestly. "She thinks she can't handle something happening to you."
That shut him up.
Silence filled the car again.
Different this time.
He looked out the windshield.
Thinking.
Processing.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked quietly.
Because she asked me not to.
Because I promised.
Because she trusts me.
"Because she trusted me," I said simply.
Keifer looked at me.
Long.
Then he nodded slowly.
"I respect that."
That surprised me.
"You do?"
"Yes."
Pause.
"But I don't like it."
Fair.
Keiren leaned forward between our seats.
"So… my best friend is Night Byte and my brother kissed Luna Byte?"
I choked.
Keifer glared at him.
"Shut up."
Keiren grinned. "You kissed her?"
Keifer said nothing.
That silence was louder than any answer.
I smirked slightly.
"You kissed her, didn't you?"
He shot me a look.
"I was drunk."
"That's not a denial."
He exhaled sharply.
"Does she know I know?" I asked carefully.
"Yes."
"And?"
"And I'm teasing her."
Of course he is.
This man lives for psychological warfare.
He started the car again.
"So what now?" I asked.
"Now," he said calmly, "we stop lying to each other."
"And?"
"And you tell me if something dangerous is happening."
I hesitated.
Jay won't like that.
But…
He's already in.
He already knows.
"Fine," I said.
He nodded once.
"Good."
We drove again.
Tension slightly lighter now.
Keiren leaned back, shaking his head.
"My life is not normal."
"No," I said calmly.
"It isn't."
As we approached the main road, Keifer spoke again.
"Hex."
"Yeah?"
"If anything happens to her…"
His voice changed.
Protective.
Serious.
"I'll handle it," I said quietly.
He looked at me briefly.
"I know you will."
And for the first time since he found out…
We weren't opponents.
We were on the same side.
End of Chapter