The Hero and the Hidden Royal - Renae Kaye Page 0,9

into fists, so he loosened them and tried to relax his shoulders. The slight movement drew Sam’s gaze. Dark eyes settled on the shape of a person in clothes, then widened.

“Please, don’t be afraid.”

Sam jerked in fright and his jaw dropped. “What?”

Small movements usually helped a person comprehend what they were seeing… and conversely not seeing, so Derek held out his hands. The shirt sleeves moved. “I’m invisible. Weird, I know. Freaky, I know. But I’m not dangerous. Don’t be scared.”

Sam’s eyes widened further. He blinked. “Are you sure this isn’t just concussion?”

Laughing, Derek chanced a small step forward. Sam’s eyes followed the movement. “I’m pretty sure. I’m sorry.”

Suddenly Sam surged to his feet, still staring at Derek’s clothes with shock. The abrupt movement startled Derek, and zip—just like that his clothes disappeared.

“Whoa.” Sam stumbled back a step, hit the table, overbalanced, and ended up sitting back down on the chair.

“Sorry!” Derek cried and moved back, into the far corner of the kitchen. “Sorry. You just scared me there for a moment. Hang on a tick. Sit still.” He took some deep breaths and tried to calm down. The cuffs of his trousers and his shoes shimmered back into sight. Sam’s head moved as he caught the change, with Derek now standing in a different spot. Derek had been told that when he fell unconscious, the change was instantaneous. Being startled would mean an instantaneous change too. But calming down or revving up his emotions gave him a shimmer.

Slowly his trousers reappeared.

“Oh my God,” Sam gasped. “You can turn things invisible?”

Snorting, Derek replied, “Sort of. I can turn myself invisible and anything I’m touching at the same time.”

“How cool.”

Everyone thought it was cool at first. They soon got tired of Derek disappearing. Derek remained mute.

“So you’re a Royal?” Sam asked in astonishment. “You have a power?”

“Sort of. I have a power, but it’s a sucky one. I hate being invisible. And it’s assumed I’m related to the royals, somewhere along the line. I just can’t prove it. I must have an ancestor born on the wrong side of the blanket or something.”

Sam was shaking his head, apparently in wonder. His mouth was still open in disbelief. “No way. Being invisible is not sucky.”

“It is.”

“Isn’t.”

“It’s awful.”

“Nope. It’s cool. Not sucky at all.”

Derek chuckled and was stubborn. “Totally is.” His shirt came back into sight as he enjoyed the childish argument with Sam.

“Totally isn’t.”

“Is. And I can prove it. Would you have come home with me if you realized I was invisible back down in the alley? No. You wouldn’t. It’s freaky. It’s weird. It scares people. And that’s why I told you I’m not holding you to your kiss.”

Sam nodded emphatically. Sort of an I’ll-out-stubborn-you nod of his chin. “I’m still going to kiss you. Can you turn visible now and let me see you?”

Confession time was upon him. Derek crossed his arms. “No. That’s why it’s sucky. I can’t make myself visible if I’m nervous.”

“Oh.” Sam finally lost the look of wonder on his face. He frowned. “Well that’s just—”

“Sucky?” Derek suggested. “Tell me about it.”

Sam was still staring at Derek’s clothes. It was weird to be invisible but with clothes on, because people never looked you in the eye. They would talk to your chest. But Derek could still see just fine. It did have the advantage of others not being able to see where Derek was looking. Good for perving opportunities. He let his gaze run over Sam’s body, then up again, which is when he remembered what he should be doing.

“Your face,” he gasped. “I was supposed to be fixing you up.” He jumped to go back to the first aid box, before hesitating. “Unless you don’t want me to touch you now?”

Sam frowned. “So you can touch? You’re still there? You haven’t like… I don’t know. Turned to mist? Dissolved? Evaporated?”

Slowly Derek held out his hand. It appeared to be an empty sleeve, and just as slowly Sam put out his own hand. First, he touched the sleeve, feeling the solid arm through the material, then he moved down to touch the invisible hand.

Derek trembled. He wasn’t that used to touch. Of course his parents hugged him, and friends sometimes clapped him on the back. Many of his colleagues at the Municipal had their own weird powers, or were used to working with Royals who had powers, so they didn’t have a problem with his invisibility either. But Derek didn’t see them often. He actually didn’t