(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 396

Chapter 396: A hard to make phonecall

Kellen managed to squeeze in a phone call to his Aunt Dina while he was waiting for his students to arrive at the cafeteria. He had given them the same message that he had for his first class, only this time it was more of a dinner invite because of his afternoon classes and other obligations.

He had grabbed a tea, something soothing with herbal notes as he took a deep breath, typed in her phone number from memory, and held the phone up to his ear as he waited.

His Aunt Dina was a very powerful Fire Esper. An A Class, but as Kellen had said before, just barely. His Mom, more than once, had lamented that if she would just go in and get ’fucking retested’ she would be classified as an S Class.

His Aunt Dina had laughed, stuck her tongue out and told his Mom to go kick rocks. She wasn’t going near a Center ever again, and even more so after she learned about Kellen’s treatment in them. Kellen felt his heart ache as he remembered her solidarity with him. How she had also offered to come over, do a big publicity stunt, and then burn it to the fucking ground before leaving.

She certainly had the personality to match her powers, if anyone had any questions about what her powers were.

She also had fiery red hair to match her temperament. His Dad had told him that her hair colour had changed from black to red after she awakened, and no matter what kind of dye, earth based or otherwise, would change it back. She had grown to accept it, and she was pretty famous in her own right.

Most of her partners, her Guides, had been women. It was something that Kellen hadn’t told her that they had in common, the same sex attraction, but it was one of the reasons he made sure to message her on holidays and birthdays or when he heard about something big happening with her Guild. The time difference really made things worse, or harder to reach out, but he had a feeling she wasn’t getting much sleep right now.

His fears were proven correct when the phone clicked after 2 rings.

"Hello?" It was pretty early in the morning for her, but her voice didn’t have the tinge of sleep that he hoped it had.

"Hey Auntie. It’s me, Kellen." There was a pause on the other line as Kellen sat at his table, watching other Espers and Guides go through the dinner line. Then, a sigh sounded, along with some rustling.

"They made it home safe, huh?" She said in response, her tone a little bitter.

"Did you think I wouldn’t find out? That I wouldn’t call? Do you think of me as heartless? I didn’t think you were one of my students." Kellen protested, trying to add some humour to the situation. When she laughed, it only made his chest ache.

"No, Kellen. You’ve never been heartless. I just...I guess I just didn’t want you to find out." She muttered. The defeat in her voice broke him.

"Do you want me to come there?" He asked. He was willing to do so. He knew that it would throw everything into turmoil. It wasn’t just him travelling anymore. It would be him, Rhys, and maybe a few other Espers. He didn’t know, but he didn’t care. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to help her.

He wanted to put an end to this damn E.A.G. bullshit and pray that when they crushed them, the group that rose from the ashes was weaker, had less of a bite.

"No Baby. I don’t want you to come here. I know you’re in danger, and I wouldn’t-"

"That’s just an excuse. Do you, Auntie, want me to come there?" Kellen cut her off. He knew all about putting others’ feelings before his own. He’d done it for years. Would continue to do so. But this was different. This was his Auntie, who had dated and dated and had finally found someone she had wanted to marry.

Now her partner was dead. Killed. By the same group that had targeted his parents. Someone like Kellen hadn’t been there to save her.

The shaky intake on the other side made Kellen’s eyes water. He remained silent as she took a few moments to compose herself. He wasn’t going to rush her. That wasn’t the point of this conversation.

"I can’t put you in more danger. As much as I want you here, I know you’ve painted a target on your back to keep your family safe. I’m not stupid. I saw what you were doing. I know who taught you that." She gave a wet laugh. "So I don’t need you here. Not yet. Deal with your E.A.G. and I will...I will deal with mine." She said, her voice hardening. Kellen swallowed.

"Do you want any help? Do you need any help? If I can’t go personally, I can always send someone to stand in for me." Kellen told her, not willing to back down. He wanted to give her everything he could, and from the wet laugh on the other side, she understood.

"Kellie, my sweet boy. I love you so much. It’s okay. You don’t have to." Kellen growled. _{freёwebnovel.com}

"If I ask you a damn question, just answer it. I am sure Rhys would have no issue with that." Kellen said tartly and she laughed again.

"Is that your Esper? Is he treating you right? We haven’t had a chance to speak since you found a partner and jumped classes. I had hoped that I would have a chance to come down and surprise you. Maybe have the wedding there while I was at it. Now..." She trailed off and Kellen placed the cup in his hand on the table before he bent, his heart breaking.

"He treats me well. Really well. He really...he didn’t have a family like I did, so he really wants to make sure that my family likes him. You’re included in that, Auntie. He’s an S Class, practically flaunts himself off to the whole world. He’s a good man, much better than I thought I would get." Kellen told her softly, quietly, before exhaling. "Did you still want to come down? We could throw a huge party for her, or something quiet. Whatever you want. I just don’t want you to be alone right now." Kellen told her. "I’ve tried to put myself in your shoes and I just..." Kellen cut off. His eyes stinging. He cleared his throat.

"Kellie." Aunt Dina’s voice was full of love. "Sweetie. You don’t need to put yourself in my shoes. I wouldn’t want this for anyone. Maybe the E.A.G. bastard who did this, planned this, but no one else. You’re my sweet little Guide boy. Don’t hurt yourself like this. You just went through almost losing your parents. Just-"

"Don’t diminish what you mean to me. Please." Kellen whispered, cutting her off. Aunt Dina let out a heart wrenching sound, a sob, before she took several deep breaths. "Please don’t do that. I know you are just trying to make this easier for me. Don’t. I don’t want that." Kellen realised, far too late, he should not be having this conversation in public.