(BL) Hunting The Field Guide novel Chapter 85

Chapter 85: A Guide’s gentle touch

Brent stood in silence, the laptop bag slung over his shoulder as he stared at the elevator doors. His foot tapping was getting on Kellen’s nerves, but he couldn’t blame the man. Anyone would react that way once they found out that the newest gate on the front lines was only the second of its kind, and the first one exploded.

Honestly, Kellen found that Brent was taking everything in stride, and Kellen was grateful for it. If he had freaked out in the same way that the researchers had when Maeve told them what was going on before they left, he would have felt way more conflicted about bringing Brent with him to the meeting.

"Why would they even want me there?" Brent muttered, as if he was able to read Kellen’s mind. Kellen shrugged.

"You were on the front line more recently than anyone else." Kellen said, and Brent snorted.

"Yeah, but I’m not a part of a big Guild. No one is going to tell me anything." Kellen cast a calculating look at Brent.

"They might, but I also know you have plenty of friends on the front lines, Brent, and they might have told you something, or answered any question you had because of the services you provided." Brent blinked, stunned, before he tossed his head back and laughed. He tossed his gaze towards Kellen, his eyes sparkling as he looked over at the other Field Guide who could also get information out of others, but in a decidedly different way.

"Oh how kind of you to think of me in such a kind light. I had no idea you thought I had a knack for espionage." Kellen chuckled, his eyes bright and blue as he looked over the other.

"Brent, anyone with connections like you would be good at it. I’m just good at getting information, you’re good at gathering it, and maintaining good standing. I’m all brawn." Kellen flexed slightly, and Brent rolled his eyes. The person who believed that was a dead man.

The door to the elevator opened, and the two stepped out.

Like Casper had said, it was quite easy to find where Kellen and Brent needed to go. It might have something to do with the frantic running around of several Guides, Espers and civilians. But the large hallways, with quite a bit of spacing between one door and the next made it very easy for them to spot the double doored conference room with Conference Room 1 sprawled in bold writing outside.

Kellen’s footsteps faltered for only a moment as he caught sight of Pamela, with her pink eyes glowing, as she sat outside of the conference room proper. She had set up a small foldable table outside and was frantically typing away on several keyboards. She was barking orders into an earpiece, and only nodded at the two Field Guides as they passed.

Brent was getting nervous from this obvious concerning display, and honestly, Kellen couldn’t blame him. Kellen was getting nervous too. Why was there so much panic? Yes, they hadn’t known how dangerous the gate had been prior to this, but they had the Peach Guild and their secret weapon in the town. They had a way better chance if the Captain’s of the Guilds all worked together and-

Oh

Oh right

The Captain’s were all dumb S Class Espers who viewed collaboration as a great mark on their honour. The only reason they put up with each other in the city was because the city had a long standing agreement from several Captain’s ago.

Plus, there wasn’t a huge age gap between the Captains of this era unlike there had been previously, counting out the D.E.C. Captain. Sergei, Sakura and Captain Thatcher all seemed to get along reasonably well. Reasonably, because Kellen hadn’t forgotten that Sergei and the Captain had fought previously while ’discussing’ who was going to get the rights to the gate.

Coming to a stop at the large double doors, Kellen and Brent looked over the disaster zone before them. The conference room had a large, oval table inside, that seemed to be divided into two. On one side was a projector where four screens were visible. It was obvious that it was a meeting between the Captains, with the last square blank.

On the other side was a group set up with laptops and a lot of coffee who looked drained. From the layout, and the mess, Kellen could tell that they had probably been here before, maybe over the weekend. Kellen felt his heart jerk. He felt guilty now for taking time away from the Captain this weekend, especially if things were so critical.

"Hey, is that your parents?" Brent asked, nudging Kellen out of his thoughts. He glanced over and noticed that yes, it was in fact his parents. His eyes scanned over Casper, who was busy running around with his hair spiked to the high heavens, and an exhausted look on his face, to where his Father was sitting calmly next to his Mother. His Mother had two laptops out in front of her, and like Pamela, she was talking into an earpiece. When she felt Kellen’s gaze on her, she glanced up, and a wide smile split her face.

"Oh my sweet baby boy. Come here!" Her voice carried loudly over the room, and Kellen felt his ears heat. His Dad’s soft, happy smile settled something in Kellen and he grabbed Brent and dragged him over. He had felt him stiffen beside him at his Mother’s call and wasn’t going to let him escape.

"Mom, Dad. What are you two doing here?" He asked warmly, and his Dad got to his feet and gave his son a long squeeze of a hug.

"Oh, you know. Just trying to provide some assistance. I heard about the new gate from Tom and Rhys. Dangerous stuff, that is. I’ll do what I can to help, but I don’t think an old timer like me can provide much in the way of assistance." Kellen didn’t trust that for a minute. Like Brent, Kellen’s mom had excellent connections, but unlike Brent, she didn’t sleep with said connections. That honour was saved for Kellen’s Father. The same Father who hadn’t let him go yet.

Kellen could feel his heart beginning to pick up as he moved towards him, forcing himself to move one foot in front of the other instead of running away. _{freewebnoveℓ.com}