IDRIS FLEXED his hand, wanting to rip off the bandage around his wrist. He knew what was under there and didn’t care if it ever healed. But he was still too injured to do much of anything and ended up lying back down in bed. When Darlene finished work, she planned to come over to help take care of him. He found himself wanting to see her more than ever.
He had been foolish to even think about Vivica in a sexual manner again. He clearly took too long to give her the answer she had been looking for, because she made sure Roman got the fight that he wanted. She wanted Idris dead, all because he wouldn’t go back into her twisted arms but chose Darlene instead.
Now Roman was dead. Idris was injured and still recovering. And he was an Exsul.
He stared at the bandage again. The tattoo was healing but it itched. Of all the pain and injustices he’d suffered recently, this was the worst.
Roman’s pack lied and said Idris had started the fight even though Roman declined. The truth was that Vivica had led Idris right to the pack, and Roman had started the fight. Idris would have died if it hadn’t been for the spirit that Darlene had sent to him, choking Roman and allowing him the upper hand.
He lived, but the packs voted to sentence him with Exsul status in an emergency meeting. As far as everyone knew and believed, Idris had killed Roman and defied pack law.
Now he was Exsul. Like Maria.
Like Attitcus, the man who had Changed him all those years ago.
For the first time in a long time, Idris felt lost. There was no pack, no rules to follow, just a lonely life ahead of him. He had Darlene, and he was happy he was with her, but he couldn’t shake the fact that she wasn’t a werewolf. At full moons, he’d have to run alone in the woods. He would have no voice in anything that determined the future of packs or laws. He would never read The Werewolf Code again.
Out of all the injuries on his body, the one that ached the most was the tattoo. It represented much more than an injury from Roman. It represented the loss of everything he knew and held dear.
***
Darlene checked over her shoulder before getting into her car. It had become a habit since taking Rosamund’s herbs to help her connect with her spirit powers. She hadn’t seen the ghost of Lucian since the night he lured her to Rebecca, but she still worried she’d see him again. She was also terrified that she would see Rebecca as well. How do you talk to the ghost of the vampire you had to stake? Especially when Darlene felt responsible for turning her into both.
Her phone blinked… a missed call from the police station. They had follow-up questions for her about Officer Walsh, but Darlene played dumb on every aspect. The new person in charge of the case, Detective Curry, seemed a lot lazier than Walsh. She was banking on that laziness and hoping he’d lose interest in questioning her after this. Rebecca had killed Walsh, in a misguided attempt to get the heat off of Darlene and show her how much she valued their friendship.
Darlene shook her head, trying to clear her mind of past ghosts. She had enough to deal with. Trying to figure out her own powers was a handful as it was. Rosamund’s herbs had broken down whatever mental block she had, but sometimes fear clogged her from seeing everything. Sometimes her excitement meant she saw too many spirits at once. She had a follow-up appointment to see Rosamund tomorrow night but was secretly dreading it. Rosamund’s house smelled weird, and she talked in strange riddles.
But Rosamund was the only one who knew about this sort of thing. And her herbs helped. Darlene just didn’t know how to properly control it.
But tonight she had bigger things to focus on. She was going over to see Idris in his hotel room, which he had stayed in for over a month now. Darlene wasn’t sure where he was going to go – now that he was Exsul. He had no pack to run with and nowhere to stay. Darlene had suggested he talk to Maria about it, but that only made him furious.
She knew that Vivica had a hand in setting up the confrontation between Roman and Idris, all because he wouldn’t jump back to her. Vivica had the chance to kill her as well, but didn’t. Darlene figured it was because she was so sure that Idris was dead, she didn’t feel like killing her after Darlene had killed Rebecca.
Darlene knew nothing about Vivica other than that she was an ancient vampire with a deadly love for Idris.
Now Roman was dead, Mark was pack leader and Idris was Exsul. Not to mention hybrid Jacob was still out there somewhere. The whole thing made her head hurt.
Darlene drove out of the bookstore parking lot. Business had slowed a little since they reopened. Darlene was eager for it to go back to how it used to be – barely any customers and a big sale about once a month. That was what she preferred.
It didn’t take long to make it to Idris’s hotel room. The moon was high in the sky by the time she got there. She hated walking around at night, terrified that at any moment a vampire or something else would snatch her. Darlene had technically been kidnapped twice now and was completely over it.
She knocked on the hotel room door, and Idris called for her to come in. Darlene stepped inside. He was propped up in bed, watching the nightly news. He looked like shit, although she wasn’t going to point it out.
“Hey. How are you feeling?”
“Great,” he mumbled.
Once Exsul status was given and Idris’s condition was stabilized, he had to leave pack headquarters. Darlene took care of him here the best that she could. He healed quickly because he was a werewolf and was almost fully recovered. She figured the reason that Idris dragged his heels about getting out of bed was because he was depressed.
“How was work?” he asked as she sat on the bed next to him.
She shrugged. “Same old. Nothing exciting.”
Idris lapsed into silence. Darlene chewed on her bottom lip, unsure of what to say. Trying to get through to Idris was like trying to get a rock to talk. She wasn’t even sure if he enjoyed her company. He refused to talk about his new status, although his hand kept tugging on the bandage around the tattoo that marked him as Exsul.
“Are you coming over tomorrow night?”
“I have to work till close,” she lied.
Even though Idris had no pack now, Rosamund had strictly forbidden Darlene from telling him that Darlene was seeing her. She wasn’t sure why, and Rosamund refused to tell. Maria didn’t know either. She told Darlene that the only reason Rosamund would see her was because she was Exsul. Idris still had too many close ties to Liara’s pack. Darlene didn’t like lying about seeing a witch, but she didn’t want to piss anyone off either.
Idris merely grunted in reply, not questioning anything. Darlene wasn’t even sure if he was listening. She felt frustration build up inside her chest but told herself to stop. She couldn’t imagine what he was going through – and she blamed herself for it.
She blamed herself for everything these days.
***
The hotel room was silent. Idris had his eyes closed and the TV muted. Colors danced against his eyelids. Darlene had left an hour ago, around ten. She usually stayed the night, but he knew why she lied and said she had to get home. He was terrible company and he knew it, especially tonight. He just didn’t know how to change it. He didn’t know how to ask for help either.
He didn’t know anything anymore.
Liara’s face swam into view when she delivered the news of his Exsul status.
“You know this is bullshit,” Idris growled, barely awake in the hospital bed at pack headquarters.
“Roman is dead, Idris. The packs have voted. It is out of my hands.”
In that moment, he hated her. It was irrational and stupid. She had done nothing wrong. As pack leader, she had followed the rules, even when he knew that her heart was still breaking over what Lucian had done. And he had made it even worse, in a fit of rage, when he told her that Lucian had been involved with Vivica.
“Why are you telling me this now?” she asked, staring down at him in the bed.
Because I’m furious, and I’m taking it out on you.
“Because you should know Lucian was cheating on you emotionally, at the very least,” he said instead.
Liara left, and he knew he had made her cry. He was becoming someone he didn’t even like.
There was a soft knock on the door, bringing Idris back to the present. He opened his eyes, frowning. If it was Vivica, he would stake her right now. He wouldn’t even hesitate. His blood started to pump and he slid out of bed, looking for something to stake her with. The knocking came again, harder this time. He would just Change and lunge, he decided, as he slowly walked over to the door. He opened the door, ready to lash out at Vivica.
But he was stopped cold by the man in his doorway. Older, with crooked glasses and gray hair. Lines around his face and eyes. Slightly hunched over. Clothes too big for him.
“Idris,” the man said, making Idris’s blood run cold. “Heard you’re one of us now.”
The man pulled up his sleeve, exposing his Exsul tattoo. Idris’s head began to pound, like an explosion going off in his brain.
This man had ruined his life and left him out to dry.
“Atticus,” Idris breathed.