Page 72 of A Hero in Hiding

“Thank you, but please, I don’t want you to get in trouble,” I say as sirens fill up the alley and people come rushing in. This time, Valerie physically picks up August—who is still hugging me—and shoves us into the armored vehicle that we’re never allowed to leave again, judging by her expression.

That’s when she seems to realize we have one more participant than before.

“Nolan?”

“Please don’t let him get in trouble. He came to help me,” I say, ready to shield him with my life.

She seems uncertain but has Wyatt handcuff him before pushing him into the back with us. A few minutes later, a displeased Deus is sent inside as well. “What does she mean I can’t torture information out of them? Does that not sound suspicious to the rest of you?”

I ignore his plea for violence. “Thank you for saving us, guys,” I say. “Deus, thanks for the… murder advice. Nolan, thanks for punching that guy and risking your life breaking out of a top-secret facility. Lex, thank you for lighting the car on fire because ultimately… I’m not sure we’d have escaped if you hadn’t. Ellison, thanks for shielding us back at the building. And August, thanks for choking that guy. It was hot. You should have taken your shirt off first.”

Lex weirdly looks uncertain about this. “Um no, I think it’s mighty nice that he didn’t waste time doing that,” he says, which is annoyingly valid but still. I guess one can’t always be greedy.

Deus holds his hand out to Nolan’s bound one. “I’m Deus.”

“I’ve actually heard a lot about you,” Nolan says as he shakes it.

Deus’s attention snaps to me. “You talk about me?”

“You’re literally the strangest man I’ve ever met, and my family is insane, so that’s saying a lot,” I say.

“It really is,” Nolan agrees as I notice him glance at Lex, reminding me that I’d used Lex to distract my brother when Nolan was working for the Rebellion, a group of supervillains. At the time, Lex had been hiding his appearance, but he couldn’t hide his mind. Can Nolan tell?

“You alright?” I ask Nolan.

He smiles at me and nods. “It’s really nice being out even with… you know.” He shakes the handcuffs.

“If it’s any consolation, you look sexy in cuffs,” Deus says.

This causes Ellison to glare at Nolan—like Nolan did anything wrong in this situation—and stranger still, Lex to glare at Deus.

What… the fuck… is going on?

I glance over at August to see if he’s noticed all of this, but he’s too busy staring at me with love in his eyes, which is cute, but I want him to get with the program.

I turn back to Nolan who looks over at me and smiles.

“I’m glad to see that you’ve found quite the group. You cut yourself off from everyone for so long that it’s nice to see you with friends that you get along with well who clearly care about you and aren’t using you. The… one is questionable, but he still seems to greatly care for you.”

“Which one? Ellison?” Deus asks.

“My brother can read minds, so don’t try to pretend you’re innocent, Deus,” I say.

Deus gasps. “Fucking hell, you’d be the ultimate asset as an assassin. We could go into a room, ask a question and just pinpoint the person who thinks about the answer. We’d know who the person we’re sent to assassinate is in seconds. Oh damn…”

“No, you’re not using him on some insane mission,” I say.

“Now you’re just ruining good fun,” Deus says with a grumble.

I’m not quite sure I am but Nolan is too busy staring at Lex to say anything or even notice Deus’s schemes. When we finally reach Superheroes United, we’re ushered out of the vehicle and directed toward the building. Valerie is there this time with some men who seem to be waiting to collect Nolan.

Lex, Ellison, and Deus hesitate but Valerie shoos them off. They grudgingly seem to get the hint and head toward the building, leaving August and me alone with Nolan.

Quickly, I step in front of Nolan and face off with Valerie and her team.

“Nolan left to help me because someone onyourteam was scheming to hurt me,” I say.

“They also prohibited me from calling any of you,” Nolan adds. “That team member told them that I wasn’t allowed to have contact with anyone, so I had to sneak out to even make the call… and when I was worried that wasn’t enough… I stole a vehicle and headed in the direction August said you guys were going. When I saw the car on fire, I knew I was in the right place.”

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