(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 335

Chapter 335: The new Captain of the Guild

Kellen thought he was doing a good job so far.

The hand off for Casper, and making sure that he had the support he needed at this moment went smoothly. Pamela and Rene arrived not too long after he’d finished his phone call with Brent.

Pamela had her game face on, clearly trying to hide her embarrassment that Kellen had called her when she had been alone with Rene. Rene, however, didn’t look like a hair on her head was out of place. Her skirt and shirt were even, organised, and the only thing that gave away that they might have been up to something was a slight smudge of her lipstick near the bottom of her lip. That, and Pamela’s lips were a darker shade then they normally were, maybe the colour of Rene’s lipstick.

If someone hadn’t caught them, they probably would never notice. Pamela seemed more embarrassed that it was Kellen who caught them, while Rene warmly greeted him, giving him a hug.

Honestly, out of all the people who could have been a fly on the wall for this situation, Kellen was glad it was Rene. She had gone through an awful divorce and had come out on the other side. Her husband had tried to ruin her, but she had instead fought against his words and actions, hired the best lawyer she could, and threw him all over the ground instead of letting him get away with it. It had been hard, and Kellen remembered the times when she’d sobbed in his family home’s living room, but she was a strong person.

While Casper’s situation wasn’t similar, Rene was probably a good person for him to have around. If Gunther had done anything, which Kellen didn’t think that he’d done anything physical given how Casper had reacted when he’d hit him, there was a chance he’d done something else, potentially without being aware of it.

Rene’s ex-husband had been notoriously manipulative and conniving, so that was something she could probably help with. Pamela did ask if Kellen needed his help upstairs, but Kellen shot her down.

Did he know what Rhys and Hill had been up to upstairs? Not really, but he could figure it out. He’d already messaged his Mom asking if she could help out while Rhys and Hill had to step out to deal with a Guild related issue, and she was already on her way with her laptop. So was his Dad.

He was sure their support would be enough, since Casper needed her now. The Guild, for her, could wait. Casper could not.

So, Kellen took five minutes to speak to Casper before he grabbed his things remaining in his office and headed on his way. Kellen told them to use his home if they wanted to, just stop by the conference room if they were planning to go up. Pamela nodded, before saying that they might remain in this office for a little bit longer. It wouldn’t do Casper any good to move him right now, nor would it be good for everyone to see him crumbling like this in the Guiding Division.

Kellen agreed, and told them to use it for however long they needed, just keep Kellen in the loop.

Pamela and Rene nodded, both of their expressions complex.

"How...How is Gunther?" Pamela asked softly and Kellen let out a deep sigh.

"I don’t know. He’s...rightfully upset, I think, since it was the worst way that could have gone. He didn’t think he did anything wrong." Rene snorted.

"They always think like that." Kellen hesitated. Rene didn’t know the full story, and under normal circumstances, Kellen probably would have agreed with her. But Gunther...he had a lot of trauma. If Rhys was right with his trauma equals higher level powers, Gunther should have had really strong powers because he was in the same accident where Rhys himself awakened as an Esper. Kellen didn’t know why he hadn’t, nor did Rhys, but it just...

The man had a hard life, and after a long time of not dealing with a wound he had, Rhys, Kellen, Hill and Casper had just shoved a hot cattle prod into his wound. Anyone would have reacted poorly to that. The fact that he hadn’t hurt anyone, or raged, was a testament to his own personal control.

Damn it. This was hard. This was so damn hard.

"Normally, I’d agree with you Rene but..." Kellen trailed off, before sighing. "I have to head up. I’ll speak to you guys after." Kellen told them and Pamela sent him off. Kellen cast one last look back at Casper, hunched in on himself on the couch, his knees pulled up to his chest as he sobbed. He looked so small, so weak that Kellen’s heart ached.

He hoped for everyone’s sake that Casper and Gunther came out of this if not whole, mostly intact.

~

Thankfully, when Kellen got upstairs and explained the situation to a few of the Espers that Kellen knew helped run the conference room, he found out now was the perfect time for him to pick up the mantle.

There were no urgent meetings as far as they were aware, and it was just going over some files, being there to answer questions if they popped up, being the face here if anyone needed anything. That was something Kellen could do, and he had the clearance to do it.