Simon turned to Erebus and noticed Blair standing by the side of the road, watching Meg. Then the dominant enforcer shifted to human and joined Simon and the Sanguinati. “Why is the sweet blood so upset today?” Erebus asked. Before Simon could decide the best way to respond, Blair said, “I was wondering the same thing. Why is Meg more upset today?” “Overload,” Simon replied. But was that all of it? “There were humans other than Intuit and Simple Life who came in yesterday. Vlad and I didn’t recommend any of them to go on to Bennett. We wouldn’t have hired them, so we weren’t going to send them to Tolya to cause problems for him. But word about the job fair has spread beyond the preferred employees, so there are bound to be humans today looking for work.” Having human employees wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Barbara Ellen Debany was human, and Tolya was pleased with her as an employee and new resident of Bennett. “Vladimir said he found unknown humans in the stock room yesterday,” Erebus said. Vlad hadn’t told him that. But that explained why HGR’s comanager wanted the back door of the store locked during the day. Humans could be as curious as Crows, so an unlocked door could be the next best thing to an invitation to come in and look around. “Nathan ran off a human who had been sneaking toward the Market Square, but the man escaped through the door between the customer parking lot and the employee parking lot,” Blair said. He hadn’t been told about that either. As the Courtyard’s leader, he should have been told. Then again, he was handling the interviews of the humans Vlad felt had potential—or weren’t obviously unsuitable—so Vlad and Blair probably felt he didn’t need to know about things they’d already dealt with. “I’m going to put up sawhorses to make it harder for someone to sneak down the access way, and Nathan and Jake Crowgard will handle the Liaison’s Office,” Blair continued. “Marie Hawkgard is going to watch the door between the parking lots. Any human trying to get in that way will get whatever she feels like giving.” Marie’s talons would certainly make an impression. “And I’m going to keep watch around the consulate,” Nyx said. “Like a tourist guide, directing humans to where they’re supposed to be—and away from where they shouldn’t go.” And feeding on every one of them. For a moment, Simon envied the Sanguinati’s ability to feed so subtly that the prey didn’t know anything had happened. If a Wolf tore off a chunk of meat, it was pretty obvious. Damn. He needed something to eat before he started talking to all those humans. “The question was not answered, Wolfgard,” Erebus said. “Why is the sweet blood so upset today?” Simon thought about Meg and the prophecy cards that indicated trouble was coming. But what if the trouble was already here and had no connection to Lieutenant Montgomery’s pack, despite Montgomery’s concerns about his brother? Theral MacDonald took care of the medical office in the Market Square and was part of Meg’s female pack. She had run away from her abusive mate, but a couple of disturbing packages had been sent to her here at the Courtyard—proof that the bad male knew where to find her. Unfortunately, the terra indigene hadn’t found him. It would be so easy for a potential enemy to mingle with the rest of the humans who had a legitimate reason to be in the Courtyard today.