Chapter 59

THE HUNTER GUARDS rushed past Lisha, leaving her alone on the sidewalk, her ID card hanging crookedly from her fingertips. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in, placing her free hand against the side of a building for support. A few streetcars passed by, turning the surfaces of a few stray puddles into a fine mist. Lisha forced herself to take in air through her nose while she worked through the flailing panic in her chest.

So close, she thought. Too close.

Rich Ward's counterfeiting skills were nothing to sneeze at, but he'd always warned Lisha not to put them to the test. Most dedicated Sovereignty databases could sniff out a falsified identity within a fraction of a second. Had the Hunter Guards decided to cross-reference Lisha's ID card, she was certain they would have put an extra hole right between her eyes.

"Excuse me," a woman approached, holding her son's hand. "Are you all right, miss?"