Chapter 449 - 2 am wake up call
Kellen knew he needed to focus, but worry was a pulse underneath his skin. He couldn’t give his students the attention they needed, especially since they were also trembling with fear and worry.
Pamela had arrived at 2 am in the morning. She had rested in the car, the only thing Kellen could believe because she had everything up and running in a half an hour. Rhys got the call that the front lines was calling, and both men had grimly gotten ready, taken each other’s hand and had headed to the conference room.
It was as grim and horrifying as Kellen had worried it would be.
Pamela was streaked with dirt, as was everyone else who was in frame. Every important person that anyone would care about was in frame, meaning the camera was quite a distance away, and not where it had been before. It was now in the Saturn Guild’s area, instead of near the poison gate, and everyone was wearing a suit. Everyone.
It took a minute for everyone to speak to everyone that they wanted. Kellen stayed by Rhys’ side, his hand clenched tightly around the other man’s. He wasn’t going to collapse this time. He’d had enough sleep. He was able to remain on his feet.
But everyone could see it. It was fucking obvious. Hill looked sick. Taylor looked sick. Sergei looked like he was ready to surge. Even Pamela had lost some of the spark in her pink eyes.
"He’s not here." Kellen finally said, and everyone quieted. "Was he near the gate?" Kellen asked firmly, his expression a mask. He was putting on a brave face, and thankfully everyone honoured the effort he was putting in. It was Sergei who spoke up.
"He wasn’t near the gate when it happened. He was...he was helping me out. He was guiding one of my Espers since he was going to put up a barrier to protect the front gates. We...found my Esper, unconscious, but no Guide Jameson in sight." Sergei’s hand clenched, his eyes taking on a deep, dark hue that had Kellen snapping to attention. His sclera were starting to turn black, one of the first signs of an oncoming surge. That and the temper.
"If you don’t go and receive guiding right now, I’m going to reach through this camera and force you to." Kellen snapped, and Sergei’s eyes widened before he swallowed. He looked conflicted, like he didn’t want to do that, and Kellen let out a dry chuckle. "Do you think he would want that? As far as I’m concerned, Brent is MIA right now. If he showed up right now, what the hell do you think he would say?" Kellen was being brutal, but that was what a man so close to surging needed.
Sergei, who normally was pretty mild mannered, snarled and spun away, leaving the group and all of the Espers who had been around him stared at him as he marched away, before they turned their gazes to Kellen.
Rhys leaned down, pressing a kiss against his cheek.