He flicked a look at Kira. "This is who you've chosen to work with? Are you being serious right now?"
"Odin has her uses," Kira said.
Raider scoffed. "That changeling tried to kill us."
Odin held up a finger that was slightly longer and slenderer than a human's. "Point of fact—I did no such thing. If I'd wanted you dead, you wouldn't still be breathing."
Kira knew enough about Odin's methods to guess she was probably speaking the truth. It was the biggest reason Kira had let her live, even going so far as to stage the other's death to help her escape from those who'd held her leash.
"There were mitigating circumstances," Kira revealed.
Raider shot her a disbelieving stare. “She was working with the enemy.”
"You don't know anything,kithiw." Menace rolled off Odin as she glared at Raider from the brim of the cap she wore to shield her face.
Raider didn't back down, if anything looking even more murderous.
Kithiwwas a term the Tsavitee used for humans. Extremely derogatory, as most Tsavitee terms for outsiders were, it translated to fodder/food, something Kira had always found interesting given the way the Tsavitee divided their ranks and the fact half of them couldn't even operate without someone controlling them.
Kira caught Raider's arm, preventing him from stepping any closer. "Not everything is as it seems."
The tension in his arm under her hand remained for several long seconds before he relaxed and shrugged her off. "I hope you know what you're doing."
Raider didn't wait for a response, walking away without another word.
Odin busied herself with removing the cables attached to the waveboard, pretending not to notice Kira’s stare.
"Using that word was a mistake," Kira said softly.
It was a trigger for any human who'd fought in the war.
Odin’s hands slowed. "I know."
"Don't let it happen again." With her warning, Kira let the matter go, knowing Raider's accusation was a trigger for Odin as well.
In some ways, Odin was very like Kira.
The changeling’s early life was controlled by people who only sought to use her. Kira's interference had saved her from that fate, but it didn't save the rest of those Odin cared about.
Everything Odin did now was in service to one goal—freeing those left behind.
Odin finished the preparations and handed the board to Kira.
"There aren't going to be any issues like last time, are there?" Kira asked.
"Not unless the Tin Can made a lot of useless upgrades again."
"Good." Kira set the board on the ground, stepping on it and activating the drive chain.
She listened to its throaty rumble with satisfaction.
While the drive chain in the board she'd used in her last race was still intact, the rest of the board had been pretty thoroughly destroyed.
It had necessitated Odin finding her a new one. From the sound of its engines, it looked like Odin had gone above and beyond.
"Is this a Blair class 500?" Kira asked.
"It's the 503." Odin leaned a hip against the table, her expression one of satisfaction.
