Kesstel’s aura spread out over the Stone Mace Guild like a crushing weight. Hunters below A rank dropped to their knees, grunting and gasping under Kesstel’s angry oppression. Some of the weaker Hunters grabbed their heads, probably suffering from instant headaches, and gulped at air, unable to breathe. The A ranked Hunters bent over, knees trembling. Horror spread across the faces of everyone as they realized that an S God stood before them and they didn’t even know.

And he was mad.

President Price, at the front of the crowd, was hunched over. His body shook as he struggled under Kesstel’s aura to stand up — he was the guild’s leader after all. “Mr. Noblé,” he gasped out, sweat dripping from the helmet buckle under his chin. “It was a mistake.”

Blake, at his side, was on his knees, panting with his head nearly touching the ground. He seemed to be affected more than most B ranked Hunters.

Even though I was just a few steps behind Kesstel, I wasn’t affected in the slightest by his aura. I was aware of the force ahead of me, but that was it. But I knew if I took two steps forward, I’d be on the ground flatter than everyone else. Still, the realization didn’t cause a sense of glee from where I was standing.

My eyes locked on Emma. She crouched on the ground with the rest of her team. She gripped the collar of her breastplate with one hand, trying to pull the metal down as she gasped for air. Her other hand gripped Mason’s arm that half-wrapped around her as he hunched over her, uselessly trying to protect her from the weight that crushed them all.

My lips parted and a single word cracked out. “Wait.” I raised my hand to touch Kesstel’s arm. Inches away, I stopped and stared at his broad shoulders.

Who was I, a weak Hunter, to tell him what to do? When we were walking through the jungle and talking, everything was so relaxed that I kind of forgot my place. We were just two people, walking and talking. I mean, I’d always known that he was super strong, but I’d never known to what extent. Seeing Kesstel’s aura unleashed like this — and knowing that it was probably not even his full ability — was like a wake-up slap across the face.

My fingers trembled in the air, just inches from his elbow. I knew that I didn’t have any right to speak against him, but I hated seeing Emma and her team oppressed like that. I frowned while I stared at her, torn at what to do.

He glanced back at me, as if he knew my dilemma. He glanced between me and where I starred. He decreased the strength of his aura and shifted until he was half a step in front of me. Was he shielding me?

The crowd of Hunters collapsed on the ground.

“Thank you,” I whispered. Maybe it was arrogant to think that Kesstel let up because of me, but everything implied that he did. Even so, I was grateful that he did. I’d heard stories about angry S Hunters and none of them ended happily.

Kesstel tipped his head to the side, acknowledging my gratitude.

Resisting the urge to smile, I stepped to his other side so that I could see around his shoulder to where Emma and her team were.

Mason had dropped to his knees and Emma held his shoulders steady. She whispered something to him and he nodded slowly. She looked at the rest of her team, checking on them as they regained their composure. Then Emma looked at me and our eyes locked from around Kesstel. Worry and anxiety were thick in her gaze.

“Mr. Noblé,” President Price spoke up. His back was rod straight, his face pale. He flicked a glance behind Kesstel, trying to get a better look at me, but Kesstel had practically cut off all visual access. “As I said, his accusation was a mistake. A lot has happened and tempers are high. On behalf of my Guild, I want to apologize.”

Kesstel hummed low. “Is it a mistake? Are you sure? If you’d like, you’re welcome to check my Items Bag.” His mellow voice sent shivers down the spine.

I let out a small breath, glad that he wasn’t talking to me. Still, I couldn’t help but think how cool Kesstel was right now. How easily he controlled everyone before him. It wasn’t just his power, but his very air demanded respect. It was completely different from Blake’s bully-ish insistence or Price’s ‘I am the Boss’ facade. All I could say was Kesstel must have totally aced his lordly duke training. I wonder if he’d teach me?

What little color remained in President Price’s face drained away. “No! No.” He cleared his throat and announced. “I know that Mr. Noblé is a man of honor. This was a clear misunderstanding.” He shot a glare at Blake who was still putty on the ground. “If there is anything I can do to clear up any hard feelings, please just ask.” Just like that, Price slipped into well-connected presidential mode.

“Ho, anything huh?” Kesstel’s voice lowered as a cold smile hooked his lip.

Price’s face blanched.

Kesstel turned his head and glanced at me.

I looked back, confused at what he wanted. Was there something on my face?

He turned back. “I can’t think of anything right now.” Kesstel didn’t even wait for the president to properly sigh in relief before he went on. “As for the theft of your energy crystal — good luck finding it.” He dismissed the president and turned to me. “Let’s go.”

“Ah…” I paused and looked past his arm to where Emma knelt, watching me.

He glanced over his shoulder in her general direction. I didn’t know if he knew exactly where I was looking, but he had to be close. He faced me again, the apathetic glaze in his eyes melting away. “So here is fine?”

It took me a second to realize that he was talking about the drop off spot. Had he really had been planning on taking me all of the way out of Gate Vale? Still, I had a couple more daily tasks to complete with the last remaining hours available in the Gate and I needed to check in with Emma before she became anymore traumatized. I promise, it wasn’t my intention to keep ‘dying’ on her.

I looked up at him, and slowly nodded. Really, I didn’t need anymore of the attention Kesstel naturally drew to himself and those around him. As soon as he was gone, I could just just fade into the background. “Right here is fine. Thank you.” There were too many people staring at me to manage a full smile, so my face ended up in an odd spasm.

He must have thought my face was funny because he softly smiled and gave a short laugh. “Okay. Till next time.”

I nodded. “Good bye.”

It wasn’t until he was gone that I realized that I totally just promised to see him again. Before I could take it back, he’d already walked away, parting the crowd of Hunters like he was parting the Red Sea. Mentally, I wanted to scream and cover my face with my hands. But as soon as Kesstel left my side, every Hunter turned and looked at me. Under so many open stares, my muscles froze stiff. I had half a mind to call Kesstel back so I could hide behind him, but my pride wouldn’t let me.

Kesstel walked right past President Price as if he wasn’t there. When he reached the still-shriveled Blake, Kesstel paused and looked down. Blake focused on the feet standing before him, then looked up into Kesstel’s face. I didn’t know what he saw, but he went white a ghost and his knees gave out. He clunked back onto his butt, his armor rattling as he shivered and stared at Kesstel in horror.

Kesstel snorted and walked away without looking back.

He crossed the clear boundaries into the marshland southeast of Feng Jungle until his form faded from view. I blinked out of my daze when someone moved into my personal space. I blinked then registered two thin arms wrapping around me.

Emma hugged me tight and buried her head in my shoulder. She was shivering. I didn’t know if it was left over nerves from Kesstel’s aura or if it had to do with her thinking I was dead. Her hot tears wet my neck where her cheek brushed my skin. “Where, where did you go?” she sobbed. “I promised that I’d protect you and just like that, you were gone! Again!”

A hopeless smile pulled on my lips as I smoothed her back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” I shifted back enough to smile at her. “But I’m back. And I’m fine. See?” I spread my arms out wide.

She shook her head, anxiety, relief, and mock anger playing across her face. “Goodness sakes, I’m starting to think that you’re invincible.” She huffed a laugh and stepped back, wiping at her tears. “I mean, this is the second time you’ve come back from the dead, right?” She took a breath and finally smiled. “I like your new armor. It looked cool, and almost a little sexy. Where’d you get it? Why didn’t you wear it earlier?”

I paused. “Ah, it’s …” Completely new. Courtesy of screwing over your Guild. But at least you weren’t implicated, so that’s a bonus, right?

I was saved from answering when Mason and the rest of his team joined us. By now the rest of the guild had made it back on their feet and were talking excitedly with each other. And most of them were still staring at me. On the other side of the crowd, President Price and Blake were having a highly animated conversation, but I couldn’t hear what it was about through all the people in the way.

Mason smiled at me. “Glad to see you.” The rest of the team echoed his sentiments.

Billy scowled and frowned at me. “You’re not dead.” Unlike when Trace said those words, there was a softer tone in Billy’s voice. As if he was actually glad that I was still alive.

“Billy,” Morgan gasped and whacked him on the shoulder. “You could be a little nicer, you know.”

I waved a hand. “No, he’s fine. It’s true, I’m not dead.”

“And that’s a good thing,” Emma piped up.

“Where’s Trace?” Mason asked, and looked around as if he was expecting to see that son of a bitch hiding in the bushes somewhere. “He disappeared the same time you did, while we were killing off the other Serpent. I thought you two might be together.”

“Ah, he…” I paused, trying to figure out what to say. Should I really tell Mason that he’d brought a hitman into his group? I bet he’d hate knowing that. “We were together briefly, but then he —” turned into a monster, “was killed by a monster.” Actually it was a Hunter, but sometimes, what’s the difference? I mean, in the end Trace finally became the monster he was inside.

“Who was that guy?” Axe Guy Nick turned his head and looked in the direction that Kesstel had left. “How did you become friends with an S?”

My mind stalled. We’d interacted several times, but I didn’t know that I’d call Kesstel a friend. Honestly, I didn’t know how to classify him. Obviously not a friend — I wasn’t that brave — and I couldn’t even say that we were on the same team, even though I got a lot of my information from him. He didn’t give a damn about saving Earth, while I was trying to figure out how to do just that. But I couldn’t deny that he’d helped me out more than a few times. Ah, the appropriate answer was, it’s complicated.

I bit my lips. “His name is Kesstel. He found me in the jungle after I was separated from Trace and he brought me out.”

Kip piped up. “God, he’s gorgeous and powerful. Can you introduce me?”

Kesstel’s story of being bred handsome popped into my mind and I almost laughed. Then I remembered Trace and wanted to smack my forehead. I didn’t think that anyone else should deal with being hunted down over a guy. “I don’t know him that well. And I got the impression that he’s kinda a lone wolf.”

As apathetic as he was, I doubted he was interested in romance. Especially when he had Bethany Wilks as an option. Not to mention, it was typically not a good thing for Hunters to have too big a gap in power with their lovers. The weaker Hunter’s health would start to decline if they were together too much. Maybe a B Hunter wouldn’t have that much trouble with an S, but that depended on how strong the S was. I had a feeling that Kesstel was off the charts.

“Well, well.” President Price came through the crowd and stopped beside me. Mason and his team naturally stepped back, making room. Price had taken off his helmet and combed his hair back from his handsome, square face. “I didn’t know that a friend of Kesstel Noblé was in my Guild. It’s an honor. You should have said something earlier, so that I wouldn’t have been so blindsided just now.” He grinned, the air of a successful businessman. No matter how suave his smile was, there was a cold glint in his eyes, as if he was figuring out how to use me to his advantage already.

I frowned, not impressed at all. “I’m not in your Guild. It’s just a short term contract.”

He flicked a glance at my shoulder, completely void of his guild’s patch. The smile almost slid off his face before it came back even brighter. “I see. Well, what do you think about joining the Stone Mace Guild? I can assure you, you would be signed on with the highest contract and enjoy the best benefits we have to offer.” His low voice was smooth as butter, making his deal sound like only a fool wouldn’t accept.