The Wolf who had followed her in HGR was standing nearby, holding one of the insulated lunch boxes Tess used to deliver food or coffee to people working in the Market Square. He stared at her with a fury that bordered on crazed hatred.
“What do you want, Ferus?” Henry asked.
It was Sam, standing between her feet and snarling at the other Wolf, that finally pulled Ferus’s attention away from her. But not for long. He couldn’t seem to tear his focus away from the harness and leash that attached Sam to a human.
“Ferus.” Henry’s voice was both command and warning.
“Tess asked me to carry this for the Liaison,” Ferus said, the words almost lost in the growling voice.
“You should go now,” Henry said to Meg, resting a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll need to open up for afternoon deliveries soon.” He gave her a little push toward the office.
“Come on, Sam,” Meg said, too scared now to do more than whisper.
All the way back to the office, Sam ran to the end of the leash, then stopped and kept watch until she caught up to him. And all the way back, Ferus trailed behind them, a silent threat.
Memory. A movie clip showing a pack of ordinary wolves pulling down a deer. Beginning to feed before the deer was dead. Ripping. Tearing. Gorging on fresh meat.
They had watched that same clip for an entire afternoon because one of the girls had fought against being cut, and the resulting prophecy had been of inferior quality. And while the girls watched the clip, the Walking Names had whispered over and over, “That could be you. If we ever stop taking care of you, that is what the wolves will do to you.”
They took care of property, not people. Willing to risk her life in order to have a life, she had run and had ended up in a Courtyard, hiding among beings who were even more dangerous than the man who saw her as nothing but a living tool. Despite Simon snarling at her about one thing or another and always threatening to eat her because she had done something he didn’t like, and despite the conditioned fear of the Others the Walking Names had tried to instill in her, she hadn’t thought of herself as prey. Until now.
She didn’t need to cut skin to know that was exactly how Ferus saw her. To him, human equaled prey, equaled meat. She didn’t need the razor to know it wasn’t a question of if he would pull her down and rip her open like the deer she had seen in that movie clip; it was a question of when.
She had been so busy building a life here, she had forgotten the other part of her personal vision. She was going to die in this Courtyard.
But she’d also seen herself in that narrow bed, and Simon pacing in that white room. How could she be there if the Wolves tore her apart?
Sam yipped, and she realized they had reached the office’s back door. Her hands shook as she struggled to get the key in the lock.
Once she had the door open and Sam had darted inside, she dared to look at the other Wolf. “Thank you for carrying the lunch.”
He just stared at her. Then he held out the lunch box.
Taking it, she backed inside the office and closed the door—and almost wet herself when the furious howl sounded from the other side of the door.
Panting in her effort to breathe, she set all the bags on the small table and ignored the snow she was tracking on the floor. Slipping the leash off her wrist and stripping off her coat, she went into the bathroom, shutting the door before Sam could follow her.
She needed to pee but now she couldn’t relax her muscles enough to go. Finally able to take care of business, she left the bathroom in time to see Sam climb up on a chair and try to snatch the lunch box.
Grabbing the pup, she dried off his feet, removed her boots, and cleaned up the floor. Then, with him dancing around her, she opened the lunch box. A container of beef and vegetable soup for her, and a smaller container of soup for Sam. Dumping out the untouched kibble, she poured the soup in his bowl, dipping her finger into it to make sure it wasn’t too hot. He began lapping up soup as soon as she got out of his way, so she opened her own container. That soup was hot, and she realized Tess must have deliberately let Sam’s serving cool off. A cheese sandwich was included with her lunch. Tearing off a piece, she gave it to Sam, then forced herself to eat a bite of the sandwich and a couple of spoonfuls of soup. Her stomach was still flipping with fear, so even that little bit of food made her queasy.
Giving up, she heated water while she wrapped up the food—and wondered if she was going to have to puppy-proof the fridge and lower cupboards.
After making a cup of peppermint tea, she grabbed the carry bag of books and headed for the front room, intending to open up early and take a better look at the books in between deliveries.
The box of sugar lumps she’d left on the sorting table was knocked over and the top of the box was torn. Drawers where she kept her office supplies were pulled open.
And there was someone making furtive noises in the front room.
Quietly turning the knob, Meg yanked the Private door open, then stared at the Crow who, flustered at being caught, almost fell off the counter.
“Jake?”
Jenni had told her that Jake liked playing the pen game with the humans who brought packages, and he intended to help the Meg whenever he was assigned to watch that part of the Courtyard.
Help was not the word that came to mind as Meg unlocked the front door. And how had Jake gotten in? As far as she knew, only a few members of the Business Association had keys to the Liaison’s Office. Well, he could have slipped in with one of the deliverymen and hidden so he could rummage through the drawers while she was out of the office.
She picked up two empty boxes from the floor, then looked at all the pencils that were scattered on the counter, along with most of the pens she usually kept in the holder. She wasn’t sure what the Crow was building, but he’d certainly gone through the drawers to find what he wanted.
“Jake, you can’t have the pencils and pens,” Meg said. She reached for one of the pens. He pecked her. “Hey!” She had had her fill of wildlife today and didn’t need a pesky Crow stealing her things.
Caw!
“I need those pens!”
Caw!
“Jake!” Her eyes filled with tears, which was stupid. It was all stupid, but she had been scared twice in the space of a few minutes, and she didn’t need this—whatever it was.
Jake tipped his head this way and that. Then he fluttered around his creation, pulled out a blue pen, and offered it to her. When she took it, he selected a red pen and offered it. Finally he gave back a black pen and began rebuilding whatever he was building on her counter.
“Mine,” she said, sniffling as she put the three pens under the counter with her clipboard.
She was about to ask about the sugar when Asia dashed into the office.
“Gods above and below, Meg. What’s going on? Is someone hurt?”
“Hurt?”
“That scream. Didn’t you hear it? I was looking at the display of pottery in the window of Earth Native and I heard that awful scream. And all the birds suddenly flying around, going crazy and making a racket.” Asia threw her hands up, causing Jake to flutter his wings and caw in protest.
Meg wanted to slink into the sorting room and lock all the doors and never come out. She would stay there until she dried up into human jerky.
Then she considered what the Wolves would happily do with that kind of jerky.
“You heard that?”
“Of course I heard that!” Asia edged away from the Crow and lowered her voice. “Do you know who it was?”