Kira moved to the side, letting Odelia skirt past her.
“Odelia,” Kira said at last.
It was tempting to let the Roake woman walk out without saying anything. Kira couldn’t do that. Kindness deserved to be acknowledged.
Odelia paused and looked over her shoulder.
“Thanks.” Kira tipped her head toward the wardrobe filled with clean clothes. “For this and everything. It was a kindness I didn’t anticipate.”
The woman’s smile transformed her face, banishing the weary grief that seemed embedded in every line of her face. “You’ll find Roake is full of such things if you look hard enough.”
Kira was beginning to see that. Now, if only she could convince herself she was deserving of such regard.
*
The unmistakable feeling of being watched pulled Kira from a fitful sleep of being chased by a terrifying shadow. Her eyes fluttered open, adrenaline flooding her as she caught sight of an indistinct shape lurking over her.
Her body reacted without thought. She grabbed a pillow, flinging it at the shape.
Jin darted out of the way, making a strangled sound of protest as the pillow barely missed him.
"What the hell, Kira?" he asked in outrage. "That's not how you're supposed to greet friends."
Kira didn't think, grabbing another pillow and sending it his way.
He dodged that one too. "Are we playing that game again?"
Her glare could have incinerated him. "Don't even think about it."
Jin must have judged her serious because the object he'd levitated using his antigravs dropped to the small desk in the corner. "Spoilsport."
"Where have you been?" Kira demanded.
When she'd returned to the room after her conversation with Graydon, Jin had been nowhere to be seen. Rather than set off on a fruitless search, she'd settled into wait. That had been hours ago.
"If I tell you, you're not going to be happy."
Her smile was icy. "I'm already unhappy."
There wasn't much he could do or say to make it worse.
"You know that place they called the Nexus on Ta Da'an?" Jin started.
Correction. She was wrong. Things really could get worse.
"What did you do?"
"I thought knowing where such a place was could come in handy if we needed it," he said.
Kira closed her eyes.
This was her fault. Jin wasn't equipped to handle boredom. She should have seen the signs. Maybe then she could have prevented this.
"Why didn't you answer any of my coms?" she asked, wondering how often he'd been making these little excursions over the past few weeks. She had little belief this was his first time out of the room.
"It seems Roake's paranoia extends to their Nexus as well. I ran afoul of a defense system that knocked me offline for a brief span."
Kira's eyes closed as her chin sunk toward her chest. Why her?
