Chapter 246: Losing track of time

The second group of S Classes that came in weren’t as bad off as Captain Gordson and Captain Mckay had been, but that was probably because there were three of them instead of two. They weren’t well, that much was clear.

No one had glowing yellow eyes, so thank the gods for that, and they weren’t attacking or acting out. They were barely able to form sentences, and it was a miracle that they were conscious.

The team of Guides were in the building, waiting in the Guiding Division. Brent was sent there with Sergei, while Kellen forced his way onto the welcoming team. Kellen’s parents helped escort the other S Classes to their rooms, helping to disperse the S Class-ness of everything while Rhys, Aunt Dina and Uncle Parker helped Kellen greet the three new S Classes.

They took orders from Kellen well, something that Kellen theorised would happen. Kellen’s aura was enough to give the parched souls some life so they easily piled into the elevator up to the Guiding Division.

Once there, Kellen was glad to note that Brent had created private, but open areas for Guiding. Out in the open in the same room, but chairs and dividers to give some privacy to the Guides as they worked. The three A Class Guides that were selected were soft, but universal Guides like Brent.

They were wearing cashmere for goodness sake, while the S Classes that came in still had the stink of dried blood on them, but it was a testament to their character that none of them flinched.

There were two teams, made of 5 Guides each. Three girls in the first group, two boys, and four girls in the second group and one boy. The first group was here already, as Kellen had noted, but the second group was on the way.

It seemed that the Guides were more than excited to be back in the Guild building, and from the guilty look on Aunt Dina’s face, she knew it too. Eager, determined, planning to not do a single thing that would get them sent back to wherever they had been hiding, they worked as a team. Two Guides going behind each divided area together, a timer nearby, while Kellen joined the third group with the single Guide.

They took turns, monitoring each other during the session. Kellen knew that he would be able to use the most power so he made sure that if they had to tag out more than twice, he would step in and help the other teams.

That didn’t seem to be needed, nor was Brent. They were good Guides, and they had great compatibility with all of the Espers. When Kellen and Brent checked on the Espers during, they were doing a great job healing them.

Kellen was proud of them, and didn’t hold back on his praise. The Guides, who didn’t know him, didn’t take to it that well, but Aunt Dina clarified that he was an instructor in his city so that was high praise. They weren’t as on guard when that was cleared up.

Thankfully, this group was in a better condition even if they weren’t as cleaned up as the previous S Classes. It seemed that they valued safety over cleanliness. That wasn’t a dig at the other S Classes. They had not been thinking straight so while they knew that they had to get here, how fast they got here was not determined.

This time it was three men, no women in sight for the S Classes. Kellen knew that there was a bit of a disparity in the higher Classes between genders, but it was becoming clear to him that Charlie and Kellen were the odd ones out. Even the other S Class Guides that had come from the group hadn’t been boys, they had been girls.

Kellen tried to keep his emotions under control as he realised that it was going to be a sausage fest. That only meant that Rhys could be more possessive. Kellen tsked to himself.

It was a good thing that he got a ring on his finger before they started to arrive. He could already feel how some of the Guides were looking at him when they thought Rhys wasn’t looking. Thankfully, the shiny stone on his finger prevented them from going too far.

"Kellen?" It was his Mom, calling out to him as he stood there frozen, not moving while the others moved around him. Brent hadn’t moved, letting Kellen have a moment while he took over but his Mom was looking for his input on what food they should get for the Guides. She had called him several times but only the last one got to him.

Kellen cleared his throat, his cheeks warming as he shook himself out of the daze that he had been in. He couldn’t allow himself to get distracted. Right now there were too many important things to do. He needed to focus. The Guides were doing a good job, like he’d said, but he needed to be on top of it.

They were city Guides, no mark against them, but it was clear that lots of the S Classes that were going to come into the city were probably going to be a blend of the ’soft’ kind of S Class that his Aunt was, and the ’rough’ type of S Class that Sergei and Rhys were.

Kellen would argue that Sergei and Rhys were more domesticated in comparison to some of the S Classes that they were likely to come in contact with, but those fools would not be staying with his Aunt. That much he knew.

She was probably terribly embarrassed at the reaction those other two S Classes had, since she wouldn’t have allowed people like that around Kellen and his family. She also cared deeply for her former partner as well. She had been a Guide, so there was no way that she would have associated with people who openly disrespected Guides like that.

"Love, are you alright? Are you tired?" It was Rhys this time and Kellen almost swore under his breath. Twice. Twice he’d zoned out, and now Rhys was growing concerned. He knew that if he insisted that he was fine, it would be a problem.

So, Kellen did the sensible thing. He put Brent in charge while he took a second. After all, he was supposed to be more hands off on this round and instead he had insisted on stepping in and taking over.

Rhys’ hand was on Kellen’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. He could feel the weight of the glances that were cast in their direction. The S Classes were mostly stable now, with the arrangement that they would get more guiding tomorrow and the day after to keep themselves stable, but not overwhelm the guide team in charge.

That meant that everyone could hear and watch them as Kellen and Rhys as they spoke to each other.

"I’m fine." Kellen told him, thinking that it was true. He’d been keeping up with how many calories he was burning. He’d only done one guiding session this time instead of the back and forth that he had done with Brent earlier. Rhys didn’t believe him, and Kellen couldn’t blame him. "Let me just answer Mom first about her question and then I’ll take a break." Kellen told him and Rhys’ jaw hardened.

"Kellen. You did." Rhys told him and Kellen blinked, his mind not catching up to what Rhys had said, before he sucked in.

"Oh." Kellen replied and Rhys’ eyes grew neon bright before he controlled his emotions.

"Is anything off? Are you feeling okay? Dizzy? Anything?" Rhys asked. Kellen would have told him he was overreacting except that kind of worried him as well.

"I already answered?" Kellen repeated, not remembering it at all.

"Yes. You said that she should get a huge Chinese food order so that they could choose what they wanted." Rhys told him. Kellen turned to his Mom, making sure this was true. Not because he doubted Rhys, but because he needed outside confirmation.

Kellen and Rhys were...well, compromised when it came to time.

However, from the pale look on his Mom’s face, and the way that his Dad had stopped what he was doing to look at Kellen with his hand over his mouth, what he said was true. Kellen swallowed.

"I think I need to sit down." Kellen whispered and it was done. Kellen found himself in Rhys’ lap, a chair appearing underneath them as Rhys wrapped him in his arms. Rhys had angled them so that Rhys could talk to the group but Kellen was facing towards an empty part of the division. It meant that Kellen didn’t have to look at their curious faces, deal with their curious stares. It was a kindness that Kellen hadn’t even considered until he realised that he needed it.

"Are you tired?" Rhys asked and Kellen shook his head.

"No, not overly. I feel fine." Kellen told him, not lying. He did feel fine. The only verifiable thing that he could think of was the fact that he had been guiding others. This had never happened before. Never.

"You aren’t dizzy? Your vision isn’t swimming? Milky?" Rhys sounded very, very worried.

"Should I call Taylor?" Kellen’s Dad asked and Kellen knew that it was bad if he was bringing up Taylor.

"It’s late there. Don’t call her. I’m fine." Kellen insisted, but from the way that everyone was looking at him, sans the new Espers who always would look at injured Guides like the world was ending, was filled with concern. Deep, unending concern. Kellen sighed. "Rhys, can you check my eye?" Kellen asked and felt the man lift a shaky hand to flip the eye patch back.

Light washed over Kellen’s eye, blinding him for a moment before Rhys let out a shaky, horrified breath.

"Dear lord." He muttered and Kellen, unsure what was going on, blinked.

"Is something wrong?" Kellen asked as the eye patch came back down.

"Nothing. No, I don’t-I can’t-we’ll discuss it after." Rhys muttered. "I don’t believe in what I saw. Maybe I’m not feeling well." Rhys muttered and Kellen had no idea what he was rambling about.

"Rhys, honey, what did you see?" It was Kellen’s Dad. He had called Rhys honey, but that was in no way an endearment. It was a threat.

"Henry, I don’t want to discuss it here." Rhys insisted, turning so that both Kellen and Rhys were facing the crowd. Kellen scanned their faces, taking in their worried expressions. Brent was the only one who didn’t look concerned. Even Sergei looked worried, but Brent? He just got to work.

Someone had to while the normally responsible ones were freaking out.

"Is something wrong with the Guide?" One of the S Classes asked and Kellen spoke up for himself, not letting Rhys or his parents answer for him. Not because he would be offended if they did, but because he wanted to speak for himself.

"I have a complex toxin running through my veins that has been mostly dealt with. However, there are some side effects." Kellen explained, pointing to his eye patch and his gloved hand. "We’re worried that something happened to affect that." Kellen lied through his teeth since he knew that whatever Rhys was worried about had nothing to do with the poison. That was mostly dealt with.

He had to be worried about something else related to Kellen, probably related to him either being an S Class or his newfound Esper powers. Why was Kellen so sure? The fear that was coming off of the man, and he was only scared about things that would make them more similar.

This answer would give them enough time to figure anything out, and a reasonable excuse. No one would be normal after that much poison. It was a good out without truly lying.