Glamour Bites

The hall was dark as I made my way, a little too slowly, down it. I could hear the sound of the crowd outside in the auditorium screaming for the guys to come back on stage, and my stomach did a flip. What was I doing? Work was that only thing I knew very well, so I would concentrate on work.



I squared my shoulders and made sure I had my badge in my pocket as I continued down the hall toward the room the guard had directed me toward. I didn’t really need the directions I had been given, because the smell of the four guys was heavy in the air and it led me directly toward them.



I stood in front of the door and took a deep breath, breathing in the mixture of the four scents, like being in the middle of a forest at night. I knew that they could hear me, but I had no scent so they would fear what was behind the door. A vampyre friend of mine had once told me that it was the only thing that made me truly frightening, and she knew frightening.



I raised my hand and gently rapped on the door, listening to the sound of frantic whispering coming from the other side, followed by a louder voice. “We’re not seeing any visitors tonight. Come to the next show and we’ll see what we can do.”



I had expected as much and sighed, knocking again. There was that same frantic whispering again followed by a thump and the door opened. Matthew’s eyes were the same piercing intensity as they had been on stage, but this close, my heart stopped and my body went still with cautious. “What do you want? Did you not hear me say that we are not seeing any guests tonight? Now if you would please go away.”



He moved to close the door and I moved my foot between the door and the doorjamb, putting my badge in front of his face. “Oh I think that you can make a few minutes for me, Mr. Taylor. Now I suggest that you let me in before I have to arrest the entire band and take you in to question you.”



The threat was empty, seeing as if they refused I was authorized to kill them, but Matthew seemed to fall for it and opened the door to let me in. I nodded approval at him and walked into the room, letting my eyes adjust to the twilight lit room. I found that Gabriel and Harper were sitting on a couch on the far side of the room, eyes staring at me in the dark. Ian was in a chair beside him, blank expression on his face.



As the door closed behind me I had a moment to realize that I was alone in a room full of Lycans before I went into bounty hunter mode. “I am US Marshall Alexia Mooren and I am with the DIT and Glamour Hunts Inc. I am here investigating the allegation that you four are Lycans of different animals. I was sent because I have a great deal of experience with Lycans and am able to tell quite easily who is a Lycan and who is not.”



The tension in the room was so heavy you could have cut it with a knife. Matthew had moved up beside Ian, leaving the door unblocked if I needed it, but if I needed an exit, I’d have to kill some of them first. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to worry about that yet, but I doubted that they would want it to end that way.



There was silence as they looked between each other, fear obvious on their faces. It was Ian who spoke first, face going back to its normal blankness. “And what have you decided about us, Ms. Mooren? Are we Lycans, or not?”



My heart sank as he spoke. He didn’t know who I was and in a way, that disappointed me. But maybe he was pretending to not know because of his name change and apparent lifestyle change. I took a deep breath and put all thoughts aside. “I have determined, Mr. Donne, that you are a Lycan wolf. Mr. Linton, you are a Lycan leopard. Young Mr. Taylor,” I turned to Gabriel, “is a Lycan bear, and the older Mr. Taylor,” I turned hard green eyes to Matthew and let him see the lack of emotion in them, “is a Lycan hawk. You scents give you away.”



The tension level, if it was possible, rose even higher. Their bodies tensed and their scents combined to nearly choke me. I didn’t take my eyes off Matthew, sensing that he was the most dangerous of the group. The silence was almost deafening as they continued to stare at me, unmoving, fearful.



“Are you going to tell people? We don’t cause anyone any harm. We’re careful around the full moon to make sure that we’re no where near humans. What’s going to happen to us?” As soon as Gabriel opened his mouth, I knew that he was the weakest link in this group. He feared what he was more than the others did, and he was the one that confirmed everything.



The others shushed him as soon as he started, but he made sure he had gotten all his questions out. Their eyes turned back to me, awaiting my answers. I sighed and slid into a seat by the door, shaking my head. “Me telling people depends on you four. I, personally, don’t think it needs to be told to anyone other than my squad. And all we’ll do is keep an eye on your band to make sure that there are no Lycan related incidents around you. The truth is I don’t plan on telling anyone.”



I could visibly see the relief wash through the group and their fearful, aggressive eyes grew softer. I leaned back and turned eyes to Ian. “And now for why I chose to keep your secrets to myself. Ian Donne is not your birth name, is it?”



I could see Ian’s mind working to try to lie to me, but I could smell a lie, always had been able to. His mind worked faster than it used to, but obviously it worked better than it had when we were kids and he told me the truth. “No, it’s not. How do you know that?”



I smiled, though it had no emotion behind it, and crossed my leather clad legs to enable better reach of all my weapons. “Because I knew a little boy named Donovan Carlisle when I was younger, and he had your eyes. Or rather, I should say, you have his eyes.”



Ian’s face remained blank for only a moment before he returned my emotionless smile. “So you’ve found me out, haven’t you, Lexi? When you introduced yourself I thought I had recognized the name, but I wasn’t sure. Now I know. And now you know my secret.”



“We all have secrets, Ian. Some of them are just more dangerous than others.” I stood and pulled business cards out of the inner pocket of my coat, flashing my gun. I handed each of them a business card and walked to the door, making sure to show them my back to let them know that I trusted them … to an extent.



I turned with my hand on the doorknob and looked at the faces of the four gentlemen, only years older than myself. There was wisdom, an age to them that no one their age should have. I caught sight of myself in the mirror behind Ian and saw the same age and wisdom in my own eyes. Everyone in this room was years older mentally than then were physically, and it was sad to think about all we had been through. I know that I had been through a lot.



I shook my head and looked back at the guys. “Every week you’ll need to call me to check in. All of you. Otherwise, I’ll be sent back here with a group of others to kill you. I would really hate to have to do that, so please, call me.” I looked between them again and sighed. “Call if you need any help. I know what it’s like to be different from others and would love to help you guys in any way. Have a good night.”



I closed the door behind me and put my back to the door, listening to the sound of the guys whispering about me behind the door. I had done something that I wasn’t supposed to do, but Mike and Karma would trust my judgment and would lie for me.



I sighed and walked down the hall, listening to the sound of the band’s voices growing louder as she made her way to the back door and the sound of screaming fan girls. I walked into the crowd to evil leers and screams of “Bitch” and “Whore”. All was subsided as I flashed my gun and badge, but I had only one thing on my mind. I had to tell someone about my discovery. And I knew just who that person would be.