The Hero and the Hidden Royal - Renae Kaye Page 0,4

his injuries.

“No. I meant are you okay? You’re bleeding.”

“I’ll live.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring.” The sounds of sirens split the air. “I think the police must be on their way,” he added. He didn’t want to be around when they arrived. It would mean another phone call to the Municipal. There was no way Derek was going to be visible in time.

“Who are you?” the man demanded.

“I’m Derek. I was passing by and saw the fight. One of them had a gun.”

“They did?” The man straightened against the wall as if this information finally scared him. His hand lowered from his face and Derek got his first good look at him.

Handsome.

Exasperated with himself, Derek bit his tongue. The man in front of him was bruised and covered with blood, and the only thing Derek could think of was “handsome”? The stranger was tall—taller than Derek by at least eight inches. The man was also wide—his torn shirt showing Derek clearly the ripped muscles of his chest and abdomen. He had to be double Derek’s weight.

Beautiful.

He could’ve slapped himself. Now was not the time to go around perving on gorgeous men. But he couldn’t help himself. The stranger was beautiful. He was dwarfed by the man’s size. When Derek was visible, his physique wasn’t exactly something to rave about. He didn’t work out. He didn’t have a physical job. He didn’t play sports. He was small and weedy, undersized in both stature and weight. He had messy, dark hair that was usually longer than he wanted because haircuts were difficult. He didn’t have supermodel looks or even that baby-face twink look some men went for. Even if he were visible, he wasn’t noticeable to other gay men. It was like his superpower manifested itself in the physical as well, making Derek small and inconspicuous.

The sirens were louder. “The police are coming. I’m sorry—I don’t want to get caught up in this. I’m going to have to get going. They’ll help you. Tell them one had a gun.”

The man looked around without seeing anything, then rubbed at the blood dripping in his eyes, smearing it more than clearing it. Derek could see he had a cut on his forehead. The man wiped again and staggered, reaching out for the wall.

“Dammit. I can’t see properly,” the man said. “Where’s my bike? I should leave too. I had no reason to be here and the police will end up thinking I’m a suspect and lose the real trail.”

That sounded a little convoluted. “Then why were you here?”

“To prove that Mr. Gravos was about to be robbed. Well, I proved it. Now I have to get out of here.” He took two steps down the alley, his hands out in front of him like a blind man in an unfamiliar place. “Where’s my motorbike?”

“If you’re meaning the moped that was up the alley, the man with the gun took it.”

“Dammit. And it’s a motorbike, not a moped. Guys like me don’t ride mopeds.”

Despite everything that was going on, that made Derek laugh. His coat shimmered back into vision. “I hate to break it to you, but that was a moped. No one looking at it would think it was a motorbike.”

“It is too.”

Derek chanced a touch to the man’s arm to steer him clear of the wall he was about to walk into. “I think you should wait for the police. Just tell them what happened.”

“Why don’t you wait and tell them?” the man challenged.

Derek’s mouth twisted. “I have my reasons.” If the man wasn’t blinded by the blood in his eyes, he would understand the reasons. There was an empty coat talking to him.

“Well, I have my reasons, too,” the stranger challenged. “Now help me out of here.”

All his life people had been telling Derek he needed to be braver than he was. He needed to learn to take chances. He needed to do something dangerous so he could prove to himself he didn’t have to be scared all the time.

Derek wasn’t sure if helping bleeding, strange men flee the scene of a crime was what they meant when they said he needed to do something dangerous.

“Quick, then. Take my arm. We’ll go this way.” Thankfully, his coat remained in sight. The rain was still falling and with any luck the darkness would hide the missing body inside the coat. They hurried up the alley, Derek looking over his shoulder for the hazard instead of ahead like he usually did. The sirens were even louder