Friedan drove beside me with a smile as he dropped me off at school. We hadn't discussed what happened last night.
After he'd helped calm me down from the sudden appearance of that other entity within me, he had retreated to his own room.
Now, I didn't know where to start with him. What were we now after what had occurred last night?
"Your mission with The Riot continues tomorrow. Whatever it is, be careful," he said calmly as we entered the campus. We found some students gathered by the pillars that lined the vast landscaped garden of DHU. They all glanced at Friedan's car.
"Everything is set. I'll be fine."
"One more thing," he paused as he maneuvered to turn right, his handsome face briefly glancing at me before returning his attention to the entrance gate, "stay away from the Vargas guy. I don't like you being around him."
I was taken aback. My brows furrowed. I cleared my throat before I could speak. But before I could say anything, he continued.
"The outcross are everywhere. I may not feel any form of bad energy from that guy, but my instincts tell me he's not safe."
"P-Phelan is a nice guy. He's human!" I lied.
"Even the nicest people have their limits and their darkest secrets, Kiera," he said firmly, gripping the steering wheel tightly. He didn't say another word until he dropped me off in front of the gym, where students were disembarking from the car.
I was surprised to see Phelan waiting in the left corner of the gymnasium, apparently aware of Friedan's arrival. I felt tension brewing as Friedan's car pulled up.
"Speaking of the devil!" Friedan exclaimed sarcastically.
"Don't act like you're my father now. It doesn't sound sweet."
"I'm just reminding you, Kiera," he replied, his voice returning to its calm and sexy tone. When the car came to a complete stop, he moved quickly, bringing his face close to mine. There wasn't even a second's hesitation before he kissed me on the side of my lips. Then he whispered, "Take care."
My cheeks flushed red. His words were brief, but they meant a lot to me. Friedan was finally seeing me as a woman, not just a little girl he needed to protect because it was his responsibility. It could have been sweeter, but the idea that he might have been an accomplice or a spy for LOU held me back from fully embracing it.
"I will!" I replied with a smile before opening the car door. I walked toward the gym, where Phelan was waiting with a grin. I had spent enough time with him to recognize his playful attitude.
"What's with the fanfare again?" I teased as I approached.
He exhaled as if he were no longer thrilled about being a campus celebrity. He looked at me, his dark brown eyes meeting mine. His gaze quickly shifted away as he started walking. "Roen is at the library."
I was about to follow him when I noticed he was taking a different path. "Why are we going this way?" I asked, puzzled.
"There are three urions that way. One near the main gate and two behind the admin building. We're taking the longer route to the library." He explained as he continued to walk briskly without checking my pace.
I glanced at him curiously as we passed the gym and the mini-eco park before finally reaching the College of Law building. "How did you know they're there?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. Then he looked at me again as he glanced back over his left shoulder. There was something in his gaze. "I just feel their presence. Maybe it's something hybrids can do? Ordinary urions and outcross can't feel our presence, but we can feel every move they make."
My jaw dropped at the statement. His eyes locked onto mine. He became even more striking as I looked at him closely. It was like a Phelan thing.
"Phelan, w-where's Roen?" I asked, my gaze fixed on his. His eyes had a certain pull, and I couldn't look away.
He didn't respond. Instead, he pressed a brick on the library's wall. A rectangular portion of the wall began to move to the right, revealing an opening to where we wanted Roen to take us.
We entered what seemed like a crypt, a rectangular chamber with sloping sides and a flat roof. Several meters from the entrance, I noticed a faint light coming from a room. It appeared to be a separate world compared to the dark underground chamber. A massive Venetian chandelier hung from the ceiling, illuminating a wooden table with four chairs beneath it. The walls were lined with books, and there were three bookshelves filled with black and gold hardcover books, each bearing a seal I had never seen before.
I guessed that this room was connected to the actual library. Roen was reading a book inside. He stopped what he was doing when Phelan finally closed the heavy metal door that had been left open.
Roen must have noticed my reaction, so he volunteered an explanation. "There are hundreds of places like this all over the world, Kiera. In ancient Egypt, they called this a mastaba, but to us hybrids, this is a chamber. This is Chamber 23. Diamond Hills University has three chambers: 23, 24, and 25." He took a seat across from where we stood.
"C-cool! So why are we only finding out about this now?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity. I sat down in front of him while Phelan began to leaf through some of the black books.
"The eclipse was your day of birth, like a Christening in Roman practice. The chamber would have never allowed you to see this without both of you being confirmed." He walked over to a bookshelf, leaned against it, and tapped a book with a circular seal on the spine. Then he returned to us.
"A chamber? Like the League of Urions? Or the group of Outcross? So, there are also groups of hybrids?" I fired a series of questions. I had thought that accepting my hybrid heritage would free me from any associations. Apparently, that wasn't the case.
Roen raised an eyebrow, blowing air to move the fallen red hair that covered his right eye. His hands clasped together as he stared at me intently. "We're not the LOU nor the Outcross, Kiera. The chamber has no hierarchy like the LOUs' pillars. There are no masters, elite officers, or legends like in the Outcross."
"So, how is the group organized?" Phelan finally spoke, setting the book he had been reading down and walking towards the wooden table.
"We function as one. Hybrids protect each other. That's what we've been doing for more than a century."
"A century?" Phelan and I chorused. We exchanged surprised glances.
Roen laughed, shaking his head as he leaned back in his seat. "I'm already 127 years old. I stopped aging at 21."
Roen's confirmation left us speechless. He appeared much younger than his actual age. He looked around our age.
"How is that even possible, Roen?" I inquired, studying his face.
"Us hybrids don't age much. Our aging gradually stops from the moment we're born as hybrids. We only age during eclipses. Each eclipse is equivalent to one day of aging. That means we age only 4 days every year."
I gulped, lost in thought about what it meant to live for hundreds of years. What would I do for centuries?
"Does that mean we're almost immortal? What could possibly kill us?" Phelan looked as worried as I felt. His perfect jaw tightened as his grip tightened on the edge of the old table.
Roen's expression shifted from amusement to concern. He sighed before answering, "LOU has devised a weapon that could kill us. Four hybrids have died recently due to these weapons."
The three of us fell into a heavy silence. We sat there for a few moments before Roen spoke again. "You are both perfect for the job. Since neither the Outcross nor the Urions have any knowledge about you being hybrids."
"What do we do?" My gaze shifted back and forth between them.
"You spy on them until we find the source of that lethal urion weapon," Roen said decisively.