Elite (Citizen Saga, Book 1) by Nicola Claire

thing up my sleeve. Not intentionally, definitely not planned. My PDA. The one I had used at Wántel and left at my Parnell home. Usually I wasn't so careless, but the past twenty-four hours had been insane.
    I rubbed my temples absently, checked my location and decided on a taxi instead of the long walk it would be to the nearest Rap-Trans station. I was currently Honourable Selena Carstairs. An Elite. I might as well benefit from that fact.
    I had the distinct impression, when I carefully approached my apartment building from a distance, that my home in Parnell was being watched too. I'd had the taxi driver drop me off a block away, so I could check the street before I arrived. I'd come in from the small park opposite, stood in the shadows of artfully groomed trees and felt eyes on me. Or the building. But I couldn't see them. The street-cams were directed to their usual common locations and not where I would have expected them to be if waiting for me.
    But I couldn't get the sensation to ease. That tickle between your shoulder blades. That indefinable feeling that you were not alone.
    Not that the street was deserted, but this observer was definitely not one of the crowd.
    I breathed steadily though my nose, my eyes scanning the environment, my ears ringing with the effort to hear something out of the ordinary. I hadn't slept at all last night. I'd not been active, after breaking into the Yehs' home, but more absent than asleep. So a burgeoning exhaustion weighed heavily on my shoulders.
    I blinked a few times to clear my head, sucked in deeper breaths to refresh myself, and then slipped through the shadows, using the trees and a well thought out approach route that avoided street-cams and being seen. I took extra care, in case the Cardinal - I could only assume it was a drone or a Cardinal in person - watching didn't pick me out.
    Many times I'd had to slink back into my building. My Shiloh indicating I was at home when I'd been out selectively stealing from the Elite. Although I hadn't stolen anything last night, the need to keep my presence outside of my apartment hidden was just as essential. I'd activated Shiloh before I'd left. Placed her on a timer to reinstate after I was long gone. I'd intended to be Lena Carr for the night, but that hadn't gone according to plan.
    Now the Rap-Trans system could have recorded my identity. The taxi I'd used may have done the same. In such a short amount of time I'd well and truly fucked my life up. But if I could get in and reboot Shiloh before this cycle ended, all was not entirely lost. If I had any luck left at all, my true identity wasn't under scrutiny by the Overseers. And I still had time.
    It didn't feel like I did. What with the sensation of eyes on my back as I used the side entrance into the apartment building, bypassing alarms and the eScanner with practised ease. If my building was ever audited it would be picked up. But whether or not it could be tied to me, I'm not sure. I even knew where to stand to avoid the security cameras, counting off inside my head for the correct moment to strike. There was always a small window of opportunity to break the rules and not get caught.
    I prayed I got it right today.
    By the time I made it up the emergency stairs to my upper floor my ankle was throbbing. There was only so much that strapping could do for a sprain. And I had been very busy. My body ached in more places than that though. My shoulders were tight with stress, my eyes stung with exhaustion, my chest throbbed with a heartache I could do nothing to ease.
    I waited for the eScanner at my door to do its thing and then slipped through the opening when the lock disengaged. Before Shiloh could even query why I was returning when she had me already situated at home, I gave the order to countermand.
    As the door swished faultlessly shut at my back, I announced, "Override, Lena Carr, 241386," turning my Shiloh unit into something else. One of a kind. Completely unique. Entirely