Sloppy of him. Trying to prey on her uncertainty while leaving his own exposed.
“Nice try though. You almost had me.” Kira snickered to herself. That was a lie. He wasn’t even close. “I didn’t come here to talk about Joule and Ziva.”
Or whether they’d been a plant as Aeron suggested. She knew both children well enough to trust they wouldn’t knowingly be a part of any plan to lure her to the Tuann. Of that, she was certain.
Unknowingly was a different story, but that was a concern for another time.
Aeron dropped all pretense of cordiality. “I’m not telling you anything.”
Well then. Kira guessed she should move on to plan B.
“I figured you might be difficult,” Kira said in a chipper voice even she found irritating. “That’s why I brought a friend.”
The figure next to Kira reached up with fingers a tad longer and thinner than any human’s to push back their hood. The face that was revealed was as beautiful as it was alien. Something in the being’s bone structure screamed other. There was no way to tell whether the person was male or female, a kind of absolute androgyny overriding any characteristics that would have declared their sex. There was a perfect balance in the visage that pointed to the person being both and neither.
An eye patch covered one eye. The other a brilliant green.
The expression in those eyes held a wisdom and indifference that was all the more chilling considering the mischievousness that was usually present.
Thin beads were threaded throughout the person’s chin length hair. Three tiny triangles had been painted onto the light brown skin under the right eye.
Aeron froze at the sight of the other.
Something very like fear crossed his face as he started shaking.
“Traitor. You traitor.” What started as a hushed whisper rose to a roar by the end.
Aeron pushed himself against the wall, climbing to his feet in horror. “What are you doing working with one of the Sye?”
So, he did know what Odin was. Kira had wondered.
Odin’s race was special, not experiencing gender in the same way as humans did. For them, the concept was a little more fluid. It allowed them to be female or male as circumstances and desires dictated.
There was also a third form. Something they called the “Sye”—which translated meant all and neither.
“Ah, good. You recognize my friend. I was afraid you wouldn’t.”
Though Odin had assured her he would.
“Do you know what their race does? What it means for one of them to be standing here?” Aeron shouted.
Kira frowned as she spoke to Odin. “I’m a little insulted that he has more of a reaction to you than me.”
Red symbols scrawled across Aeron’s skin as the two bumps where his horns would have been had he been in general form pushed through the skin on his forehead. A whimper left him as the red drained out of the symbols and the bumps vanished.
Aeron slumped against the wall, barely able to stand.
“Calm yourself, brother. No one is here to hurt you,” Odin advised.
Not true. Graydon would have been more than happy to put the hurt on Aeron if it would get them what they needed.
Aeron’s labored pants were loud in the sudden quiet as he focused on Kira. “Do you know who you’re working with?”
“I have an idea.”
Admittedly, most of Odin’s history before meeting Kira was shrouded in mystery, but she knew what was important.
Though she did find Aeron’s overreaction to Odin’s presence quite interesting. It made Kira wonder exactly what part the Sye played in the Tsavitee’s ranks. Something told her they weren’t rank-and-file grunts. That perhaps their ties to the generals were tangled and deep.
