Note: Please see Prologue for warning, copyright and disclaimer information.

The Iron

Once we were on the main floor, I scanned the crowd while Mac talked to the vamps we'd come with. Mac and Brenda wanted to stay at the club, and Faith agreed to have a ghoul bring a car in for us to use.

Brenda excused herself and headed into the crowd. I glanced upward and thought I caught a glimpse of a familiar face. I think Mac saw it too because he led me toward the stairs after Brenda. When we reached the top, I looked across the room to see Bobby and Glenn sitting at a table with a young teenaged couple.

"Damn," I whispered.

"What?" Mac asked.

"In the corner," I said, gesturing in their direction.

He followed my gaze. "Interesting."

"I'm not sure it's safe for you to be up here," I told him.

"I'll go downstairs."

That was too easy. If only he would be so reasonable more often. He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek, then turned and went down the steps.

I followed Brenda across the floor, a little surprised that she seemed to be heading to the same table. The young girl said something to the boy and rose to her feet to greet Brenda. They stepped a little away from the table with the boy and began talking.

That's when Glenn and Bobby looked up and saw me. I guess they hadn't expected me, cause they looked surprised. They both got up and met me a little ways from the table, out of the hearing range of Brenda and her friends.

"Eliza," Glenn said softly.

"Glenn," I murmured, my body tense, ready for a fight I didn't want. "Bobby."

Bobby grinned at me. "Been a while, Eliza. How's life?"

I shrugged. "It has its ups and downs," I replied then looked at Glenn. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

"You knew I'd be here?" I demanded.

"I knew Mac would have to visit the prince sometime," he told me. "She's here, he'd have to be too. Bobby's been watching the floor."

So it had been him I'd seen earlier. "What do you want?"

"Kate knew all about the raids, Eliza," he said in a hard voice.

I nodded. "I know. I found some information that proves it."

"From what my source says," he continued, "Kate practically planned the entire thing herself. I hear she went into a rage when she thought you were dead. It took two days for you to come around and when you did, the two of you disappeared. Dougal was already gone with Mac, otherwise she probably would have killed them both."

"She won't be a problem much longer," I told him calmly. "As soon as I see her, she dies." I was getting damned tired of saying that, I wanted to move on to the actual doing part.

"Is that right?" he drawled. "I have to ask, Eliza. Did you have something to do with the raids? Did you know that your friends were going to die that night? Jane? Your lover?"

I wanted to hit him but I didn't think that would be a good idea here. I wasn't sure how long I could avoid trouble if Glenn pushed me far enough. "If I had known what was going to happen don't you think I would have done something, anything to stop it?" When his eyes didn't change, I sighed and added, "But there's no way I can convince you of that now, is there, Glenn?"

"There is one way, Eliza," he told me softly.

"And what would that be?" I knew I wouldn't like it, whatever it was he was thinking about.

"Kill him," Bobby said calmly.

I was right, I didn't like it. "No."

"Kill him like I killed Jane," Glenn urged me softly. "Do you think that was easy for me? Do you think I enjoyed hearing her screams?"

"No," I repeated, stronger this time. My fists balled with the effort it took not to strike out at either of them.

"Then let us kill him," Bobby said. He seemed too calm about this, something was up, I just didn't know what.

"Damn it, I won't watch him die again!" I was getting angry, but I was afraid, too, afraid that they'd find out Mac was here and hurt him. I couldn't let that happen. "I listened to you before about Mac and you were wrong," I told Glenn. "You're wrong this time, too. He is still Mac where it counts, I know he is. I can feel it."

Glenn looked at me for a long minute. "Why, Eliza?" he growled harshly. "Is he still that good in bed? Or is it the girl in Salem? Is she his or did you find someone else to fuck when he died?"

I wanted to kill him at that, but I felt a shiver run down my arms and for a moment I couldn't think. I shook my head to clear it. "You stay away from her, Glenn, or I swear I'll kill you myself." Magic, he was using magic against me. I fought to keep my control; I hate it when they use shit like that against me.

"How can you be so sure about him?" he asked softly. "I know you have doubts about him, Eliza. There are things he hasn't told you, things you haven't even asked him about."

"How would you know?"

The same way I know that he's getting his memory back. The same way I know what you really are, I heard his voice say in my mind. Dhampyr are supposed to hunt the undead, not fuck them. And speaking of the undead….

I'd been feeling the presence of vamps since we walked into the place, but now I felt one coming closer from behind me. I turned to look and of course it was Mac. I knew he'd agreed to go downstairs too easily. What the hell was he doing?

Ask him about blood bonds, Glenn suggested. His and yours.

I took a step back from the mage who was invading my mind. "Are you planning on turning me in to the Kindred Cops?" I asked coldly. One word from Glenn to any Kindred and I was as good as dead. "No matter what you do to me, you have to know that I'll protect him with my life. He's mine."

Bobby smiled and crossed his arms almost like he'd expected me to say that.

Do you think I'd have the heart to see you stuck in a lab for the rest of your unnaturally long life? he asked as if I knew the answer.

Do you still have a heart, Glenn? I replied harshly in my head, almost hoping he couldn't hear it. Or did the vamps kill it when they killed your mother?

At that moment, Mac reached us. "Glenn, Bobby," he greeted them.

"I hear you've been remembering things," Glen said softly. Bobby just stood there, watching us, not saying a word.

"Yes," Mac replied but didn't offer any details. Not that Glenn needed any, he sounded like he'd been reading our minds.

I stepped closer to Mac and took his hand, making no effort to hide the movement. Glenn saw it, as I intended. He's mine, I told him fiercely.

And you protect what's yours, he whispered in my mind.

Always.

Out loud, Glenn asked Mac what he was doing in Nashville.

"Hunting."

Glenn smiled. "Funny, that's what we're doing here."

"Who are you hunting?" Mac asked before I could.

"Things with teeth." To someone who didn't know him, Glenn seemed very calm, but I could see that his calm was a thin layer covering what had always been an explosive anger. He'd always hated all things Kindred.

"Lots of things have teeth," Mac replied.

"Fair enough," Glenn said, nodding. "Who are you hunting?" I noticed that he hadn't said exactly who or what he was looking for.

"The man who killed my sire," Mac told him.

He didn't seem surprised to hear that Dougal was dead. "Planning on being here long?"

"No longer than necessary."

"Good thing," Glenn murmured.

"And yourself?"

"No longer than necessary."

"It's a good thing," Mac said firmly.

I didn't know how much longer I could take this tension between them. I hated seeing it, they'd never been like this with each other. Hell, they'd been the best of friends once upon a time.

Leaning closer to Mac I whispered, "I don't think it's a good idea for us to stick around."

"Whatever would make you think that," he asked wryly.

Could it possibly be the hostility I could just about feel coming from Glenn in waves?

"The car hasn't arrived yet," he reminded me, a smile playing on his lips, "and I haven't the keys to my motorcycle."

Glenn smiled too, but this one seemed almost genuine. "Oh, you saw that, did you?" Somehow I got the feeling that he'd wanted Mac to see the bike.

"Yes. Glad to see she's still running after all these years."

Slowly, carefully Glenn put his hand in his pants pocket then pulled out a key chain with one key on it. He tossed it to Mac, who caught it in his left hand.

"Runs like a dream," Glenn told him smoothly. "Always did. Good to see you remember it."

"Seeing it jarred my memory a bit," Mac admitted.

"Good to see something finally did," came the dry reply. "You spent quite a bit of time in la-la land, didn't you?"

"I've been lots of places, Glenn," he drawled.

"Lots of elsewhere places." What exactly did Glenn know about Mac's life?

"Those too," Mac agreed.

Glenn studied his face for a moment, as if thinking about something. "So you're hunting your sire's killer," he said finally. "Somebody finally staked the old guy?"

Mac's hand tightened ever so slightly on mine. "So I assume."

"About time."

"Oh?" He seemed surprised. "Were you on the waiting list?"

"I was in that line," Glenn admitted.

"Along with many others, I understand," he murmured, glancing down at me.

I didn't say anything, there was no reason for me to. Mac knew exactly how I felt about Dougal; I'm glad he's dead so I don't have to destroy him myself.

"I thought she was on that list too," Glenn replied, looking pointedly at our hands. "Now I'm not so sure."

"Her feelings for me are much different from her feelings toward my sire," Mac informed him.

"Her feelings for you," Glenn said softly, "are much different from what I thought they would be at this point in her life, and your… unlife."

"Now as much as they ever were, Glenn," Mac said in a hard voice, "our feelings for one another are none of your damn business."

Damn, I didn't want them to get into this. If Glenn knew what buttons to push and wanted to cause problems, I knew he'd push it to the limit. Didn't either one of them remember that they'd once been friends? More than friends?

Glenn clutched at his heart dramatically. "Oh, that just hurt so much," he murmured dryly.

"It wasn't meant to hurt," Mac replied calmly.

"So, you hanging around? Can I buy you a drink?"

What, did he think we could be bosom buddies after the thinly veiled threats and accusations here? And was Glenn planning on opening a vein for his old friend?

Mac suppressed a smile as if he were thinking along the same lines. "No, thank you."

Glenn nodded. "Maybe we'll see you around."

"If you're lucky," Mac told him. He looked around for Brenda and propelled me in her direction.

"And you're not," I heard Glenn say warningly.

Mac and I walked over to where Brenda was talking to the two teens that were sitting with Glenn and Bobby earlier. As we approached them, I looked up at Mac.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for us to stick around here?" I asked him.

"We're leaving shortly," he told me softly.

"Good."

When the girl noticed us standing there, she stopped talking and looked at us. Brenda turned her attention to us, a cold expression on her face.

"We won't be needing the car," Mac told her. "We've acquired another mode of transportation."

Somehow I didn't think she was disappointed. "So you won't be needing me."

"We'll be leaving shortly," he added.

"Okay."

"Good evening," Mac said politely. As he led me toward the door, I heard the blond talk to Brenda.

"Who's the new vamp and the puppy?" she asked.

I stiffened; I wasn't a fucking ghoul and it bothered me that the girl thought I was. It shouldn't have mattered, really. She didn't know me, didn't anything about me except what she obviously saw in my aura, but it still hurt.

"They are here on… his business," Brenda replied coldly. I guess I hadn't realized just how much antagonism was between the two of them. I wondered why Elvira had agreed to allow Brenda to come to Nashville to 'help' Mac. Did she want him dead?

"Good evening, gentlemen," Mac said as we passed the table where Bobby and Glenn had sat back down.

"Evening, Mac," Bobby drawled, the first words he'd spoken to the man who was once his friend.

I had to see how deep your feelings were for each other, Eliza, I heard Glenn say with some remorse in my head as we walked away. I knew you once, and I don't think you could love him if you didn't believe he was the same Mac we once knew.

I tried to tell you, I replied, still not knowing if he could hear me.

Still, ask him about blood bonds, he added. Tell him if he likes I can break that one for him before it gets to be a problem he can't handle.

Do me a favor, Glenn, I asked.

Anything.

Stay the fuck out of my mind. I'd had enough of mind games by then. I didn't want to have to worry about what I was thinking.

You break my heart, Eliza, he replied dryly. And here I thought you loved me.

I love Mac. I deliberately replayed kissing Mac on the plane in my mind. By the time I got to the part where I had pulled the first handgun from its holster, I knew that Glenn was gone.

"Well, that went well," Mac murmured when we reached the bottom of the stairs.

I had to agree. "Nobody died."

"Yet."

"The night is still young," I reminded him. I wouldn't feel safe until we got back to the chantry. Man, did it seem weird to think that way. Speaking of weird, "Did something seem weird to you when we were talking to them? I mean besides the mind talk."

"Well, since I don't remember them I have nothing to base it on," he told me.

He had a point. "So what are we doing now?"

"Well, we are in a club." He grabbed my waist and swung me around, pulling me up against his body.

"But we're not dressed clubby," I said with a smile. "And I don't have a club."

"But we can still have fun," he said. "Besides after the boys up there calm down a bit, I'd like to go back and talk to them."

I looked up at him in surprise. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Glenn assured me he wouldn't stake me here," he said.

Another surprise. "Did he?"

"Yes," he replied. "But you said they were acting strange. How so?" He pulled me into a little alcove and looked down at me.

I glanced around and saw that no one was close enough to overhear our conversation. "Usually Bobby is a bit more outgoing, and Glenn used to be a lot friendlier. Of course, you didn't use to be—" A vamp, but I wasn't going to say it. "What you are and I didn't used to work for the Society."

"Yes, I would imagine some things would take some getting used to." He looked casually out over the crowd but I think that maybe he was waiting for me to make my usual biting comment about his body temperature. If that were the case, he'd be waiting a while.

"I think you can get used to anything given the right motivation and time," I told him softly.

He smiled down at me. "Glad to hear you say that."

I squeezed his hand and smiled back at him. "So you want to do what while we wait for them to calm down?"

He took me in his arms and spun me around again. "Dance." He seemed more lighthearted than I'd seen him yet.

I put my hand on his shoulder to catch my balance. "Dance floor's over there," I told him.

"Was the woman Brenda was talking to one of our old friends as well?" he asked as he led me toward the dance floor where the band was driving out a song with a hard rhythm.

"I have no idea who she was," I said roughly, "but I didn't like her." I wasn't looking forward to dancing to this music, but maybe it would change by the time we got to the floor.

"Because she knows Brenda or something else?"

I glanced upward toward the balcony and saw the girl in question looking over the rail at me, still talking to Brenda. "She called me a puppy," I reminded him irately. "I'm not a puppy."

"Do you care what she thinks of you?" Thankfully the music changed to a slower song and Mac pulled me into his arms. I put one arm around his waist and the other on his shoulder. We danced to the slow beat of the music.

"No," I told him, "but I don't like her thinking I'm a puppy."

"It's your aura luv," he said softly, rubbing his chin against my hair.

"Thanks," I said dryly.

"Don't worry about it," he replied in the same tone, making me smile.

"So, Mac," I murmured, remembering Glenn's suggestion, "what's a blood bond?"

"Don't you know?" he asked, sounding surprised. "And who brought it up?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" I asked him irritably. "I'm not Kindred. And Glenn mentioned it, more or less."

"More or less?" He stopped moving and looked down at me questioningly.

"The mind thing, you know." I looked up at him, finding it hard to believe that Glenn hadn't been talking to Mac's mind too. "Wasn't he doing it to you too?"

"Yes," he admitted. "What did he say?"

"He told me to ask you about them," I said. "What is it?"

"Remember the way Linda acted around Kate?" he asked softly as he started to move again. "And the way she was when Kate wasn't around?"

"Like I could forget." Linda's addiction was ingrained in my mind no matter how hard I tried to forget it.

"That was a blood bond," he said. "Not your typical one, but one more or less. Brenda and Rafe are more normal."

"How do you break it?" I tucked my face into the curve of his neck, trying to clear my mind of childhood memories.

"Become fully bound to another," he explained, pulling me closer, "be embraced, kill the one you are bound to."

"No other way?" Unless Glenn planned on killing someone, none of those ways sounded like something he could help with.

"I have heard spending time away from the one you are bound to weakens it."

"How do you get blood bonded?" Knowledge is power, according to Mac, and I sure as hell didn't want that happening to me.

"If a mortal drinks a Kindred's blood," he said close to my ear, "or a Kindred drinks another Kindred's blood. Three times and you are fully bound."

It sounded disgusting and I looked up at Mac warily. "Why would Glenn tell me to ask about your blood bonds and mine?"

"I was just going to ask you the same thing," he told me.

His face was so close I had a hard time concentrating. "I have no idea," I told him impatiently. "Sounds like blood bonds are a Kindred thing, and you're in charge of those. I don't drink blood, let alone Kindred." Glenn had talked as if Mac had a blood bond. "Who's blood have you been drinking?"

"Yours," he whispered with a sly grin. He pulled me closer again and I closed my eyes. "He may be talking about your..." he paused to clear his throat, then continued, "Kate's blood. Given what you were born with and what you have been fed."

"Would that cause a blood bond?" I asked, hoping it wouldn't. I didn't want anything coming between me and her final death. "Cause you may have noticed that I don't particularly like her. Could you get a blood bond from me given what I am?" That was a thought.

"I have heard of people who are immune to the effects of the bond," he murmured. "I don't think I can be bonded to you, at least not by blood."

I smiled against the fabric of his shirt and lightly touched the skin on his neck. "Glenn said something about knowing a way to break a blood bond, but he didn't say what." My voice sounded odd to me, preoccupied. Dancing with Mac had always distracted me, but for some reason tonight it was worse.

"I told you all the ways I know of," he said softly. "But if Glenn knows some, it could be I don't remember them. Why don't we go ask him?"

I looked up at him in surprise. "Are you sure about that?"

"He seems to want us to think he knows a lot. Lets go find out."

I studied his face for a long moment, trying to figure out just what he thought that would accomplish. Finally I shrugged. "Just remember that you heal a lot better than I do, and that there are a lot of innocent people here."

"Always," he told me, "but don't let him 'mind speak' to you. If he has something to say, let him say it aloud."

Ri-ight. "Like I can stop him. I'm not a damn mage, what am I supposed to do?"

"Punch him if he doesn't get the hint," he suggested, grinning. "Or throw a stake."

I smiled a little at the thought, but the smile didn't last. "You and Glenn used to be really close, Mac," I told him, "almost like brothers. I'd hate to have to kill him and have you remember that later." I didn't think he'd be able to forgive himself if that happened, or me.

He pulled me closer and hugged me. "So would I," he whispered against my hair. A moment later he pulled back. "Shall we?"

"Okay." For Mac I'd do anything. Or rather, anything that didn't risk Corrine.

The music faded away and was replaced by a driving temp as we walked off the dance floor. Brenda and her friend were gone, but I saw Faith and Nick talking to another vamp in one of the conversations areas of the room as we walked up the stairs.

When we reached the top, we could see that Glenn and Bobby were alone. They saw us coming, and they seemed to have been expecting us to come back.

Couldn't stay away? Glenn asked in my mind.

I didn't answer, just thought about how good Mac's arms had felt around me when we were dancing.

"Hello," Mac said when we got to the table. "Does the offer still stand?"

Glenn raised his eyebrows and Bobby smiled, but neither of them replied.

"Out loud if you please, Glenn," Mac told him firmly, pulling out a chair for me to sit down in, then sitting beside me.

"If you insist," Glenn conceded. "What's your poison?"

"Scotch on the rocks."

When Glenn asked me what I wanted, I tried very hard not to smile but couldn't help glancing at Mac. "Coffee."

The mage called the waitress over and told her what we wanted. When she'd gone after it, Mac looked at him and grinned. I could almost believe we were back in Baltimore at the Memphis having a drink after a successful hunt. Almost.

"Now then," Mac said pleasantly, "have we all calmed down a bit?"

"Were you nervous?" Glenn asked, watching him carefully.

If anything, Mac's grin got bigger. "Should I have been?"

"Depends, Mac," he drawled. "Eliza thinks you're not a black hat. Are you?"

Mac sat back and looked at him. "Who is to say? You, Glenn?"

Glenn shook his head. "I'm not generally the judge, just the executioner," he told him. "It's damned hard for a vamp to be a good guy." He said vamp the way I usually said it, like it was a vile thing.

"But possible, yes," Mac replied. "Ask Eliza if I have acted like a black hat."

When Glenn looked pointedly at me, I returned his look with a level one of my own. "I've already told you what I think, Glenn," I said firmly.

"Yes, you have," he replied smoothly. "But is he just making you think he's your Mac? I'm finding it hard to believe you'd let him bite you any other way."

Son of a bitch. How had he known that? Fucking mind reader.

Does the truth hurt, Eliza? his voice asked in my head.

I felt my shoulders start to knot from the tension there, and when Mac reached over to take my hand I tried not to clutch at it. Time to fight fire with fire.

"I've already told you what I think," I repeated, struggling to keep my voice calm. In my mind I thought about what it had felt like when Mac had sunk his fangs into my wrist, the peace and desire that had connected me to Mac on the most basic level I've ever felt.

"You have," Glenn said abruptly, turning away. "Who exactly are you hunting, Mac. Maybe we can help. We have contacts here."

Mac's voice was very hard and cold. "Earl Hardy."

"Don't like him very much, do you?" he asked, almost amused. "I'd think you'd be glad the vamp who turned you was gone."

Bobby shifted a little uncomfortably on his seat. He shot a glance at Glenn, then settled down, but Mac had noticed his movements.

"Dougal was my friend," he said softly, "my teacher, my confidant for nineteen years, Glenn." Mac turned to Bobby. "You've known each other for a little over that time. If someone were to kill him," at that he nodded toward Glenn, "how would you feel?"

The Garou growled low in his throat before he caught himself. "I'm sure I wouldn't like it much," he admitted.

Mac turned back to Glenn looking all justified. I closed my eyes for a moment, wondering why I'd never thought of Mac's loss that way. Just because he was a vamp didn't mean Mac hadn't cared about him.

"Point taken," Glenn conceded. "What are your leads on Earl?"

"He is Brujah," Mac told him. "I have a receipt from Bruckman's Imports in Paris with an end destination of Nashville signed by Earl on July fifteenth of this year."

Glenn nodded as if Bruckman's sounded familiar to him. "There've been problems with that place for a long time. I hadn't heard that he was back in town, though."

"Does everyone know this guy?" I whispered to Mac.

Glenn heard me and smiled dryly. "Yeah, he's real popular."

The waitress returned and sat our drinks in front of us on the table before leaving us once more alone.

"Do you know where he is?" Mac demanded as soon as she walked away, even more serious than he'd been before.

"As I said," Glenn murmured, "I hadn't heard he was back in town. Last time I heard he was someone saw him down by the cave James had going on in a park down town. Of course, James is dead, but some of the Brujah still hang there." He smiled again and looked at Mac. "I heard there was an… incident with the Brujah earlier tonight. Were you there?"

"Yes," Mac said dismissively. "Where exactly is this cave?"

"Down at Shelby Park." I didn't quite like the smile he gave us. "We can show you if you'd like."

"If you promise to behave," Mac said warningly.

Glenn tried to look hurt. "It's not me you need to watch out for," he said with mock sternness. "Eliza was always more likely to stake than me."

I rolled my eyes; Glenn had always hated vamps more than I had, but he was right, I'd always been the first to leap into combat with the Kindred when the time came.

"I don't care what happens to the rest of them down there," Mac said coldly, leaning closer to the table, "but Earl is mine."

The hard tone of Mac's voice didn't seem to bother Glenn. "Hmm, that's a word that's been used a few times tonight." He took some money from his pocket and threw it on the table. "Shall we?" he asked as he stood.

Mac looked up at him questioningly. "Who has used it?"

"'Mine'?" he asked, looking surprised. "Eliza has, several times."

When he turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow, the smirk on his face made me want to punch Glenn. I tried to look innocent, but did I mention—yeah, I guess I did.

We followed the others downstairs, but as we started for the door, Mac saw Faith.

"Just a moment," he said to Glenn before looking down at me.

Like I wanted to go talk to the vamps. "Go ahead," I told him.

"Be good," he cautioned me before he walked away.

I glanced warily at the men he'd left me with, almost regretting that I'd stayed behind.

"Afraid of us, Eliza?" Bobby asked.

"Should I be?" I studied him closely for first time tonight.

He was older, of course, somewhere around thirty-four if I remembered correctly. He wore jeans and a tank top with a red jacket and red felt cowboy hat that covered his long blond hair that he wore in dreadlocks. His taste in clothes hadn't changed much, but now he apparently had the means to dress the way he'd wanted to when he was younger.

"Have you done anything you need to be afraid of us learning about?" he drawled, his voice deep with caution.

"I've done what I've had to do," I told him coldly. "Nothing more, nothing less."

He knows what you've done, Glenn told me silently, and why you did it. Why didn't you come to me? I would have helped you.

I looked at Glenn sadly. I never expected to live this long, I replied quite honestly. As long as Corrine is safe, I don't care what happens to me.

I would have helped you, he repeated as Mac started back toward us.

I didn't need you, I told him. I wasn't trying to be cruel, but Glenn would never have been able to replace Mac. No one ever had, and no one ever would.

We stood in uncomfortable silence until Mac joined us and took my hand.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"Of course, let's go," Glenn replied.

As we went outside, I wondered how Glenn could act so calm. But I guess it didn't matter, did it? If I'd asked Glenn for help, maybe I could have raised Corrine myself, maybe I could have stayed away from Kate and never signed the blood contract that constantly ate at my soul. Then again, maybe Kate would have found us and killed us all.

We walked down the block to where Mac's bike was parked next to two other motorcycles. Mac buttoned his jacked one handed as we went, then stood looking down at his bike for a long moment before glancing at the other ones parked there.

At last he looked at Glenn who was standing next to his bike waiting patiently. "How long has my bike been sitting here?"

"About an hour and half," he replied with a smile. "You don't think we didn't expect you?"

"Who brought it?" Mac asked suspiciously. "Just curious."

Glenn grinned. "That would be telling."

"Yes it would," Mac agreed. "Now who brought it?"

"That would be telling," he repeated, getting on his bike and picking up his helmet. "Can't give away all my secrets."

"Yet," Mac murmured.

"Ever," Glenn corrected as he put the helmet on.

Mac handed me one of the helmets that hung from the handlebars then put the other one on and adjusted the bomber glasses that I remembered from Baltimore.

I smiled. "I thought they burned this type of helmet twenty years ago?" I murmured to myself, noticing that Bobby wasn't putting on a helmet.

One by one they started the bikes and we followed the others away from the Iron and into the night.