Odin shook her head with a look of regret. "Not without the possibility of also eliminating their location."
"What if I had someone who has been there recently and could give us another data point?"
Odin's features rearranged. It was like watching water ripple as the Sye's bone structure shifted to create a face with more masculine features than it had a second ago. His jaw was a little more angular. His chin wider and stronger. His lips lost their plumpness, becoming a thinner version of themselves.
Kira watched as Odin went from female to male in a shorter time span than it would have taken to change outfits. The effort as natural as breathing to him.
"The general," Odin guessed.
Kira dipped her chin in the tiniest of nods.
Odin folded his hands over his arms as he considered. "On the grounds we're able to trust a single word out of his mouth, then yes, it could work."
Kira's heart thumped in excitement.
"At the very least it might get us close enough that I can use the J1N's connection to the spawn to locate Jin and your niece." Odin leveled a serious look on her. "That's a mighty big if, though. The generals aren't your biggest fan. There's a whole lot of enmity built up between his kind and you. He's more likely to sabotage us."
Kira didn't care about that. "He'll help."
And if he didn't, she'd just kill him.
"I hope so. Because this is Tsavitee territory we're talking about. One mistake and we won't have to worry about what they'll do to Jin and your niece. We'll be dead."
Or worse. They'd be prisoners at the mercy of monsters.
Odin touched his jaw absently before reaching up to snag the earring dangling from his ear lobe.
"Does that ever bother you?" Kira dipped her chin at his hand. "Having to use an earring to indicate your gender?"
Odin held up the earring. "What? This?"
Kira nodded.
It had to be exhausting, constantly having to signal to others what would have felt obvious to him.
One side of Odin's mouth hooked up. "Most people are oblivious when I switch genders. The observant might notice that there's something different about me, but they rarely suspect the truth of my existence. It's what has let me survive. Their cluelessness. Otherwise, the Tsavitee would have hunted me down a long time ago." Odin's gaze was deep as he studied Kira. "You and Jin are some of the only ones able to recognize my shifts."
"Not quite." Kira rose from the floor. "Diesel and his people know something is up. They think you're a pair of twins. A male and a female."
Odin stopped, turning back to Kira with an arrested expression. "Do they?"
Kira hummed an agreement.
"Fascinating," Odin breathed, his gaze introspective. "They're wrong, but their ability to spot my differences is intriguing in and of itself."
That was one way to see it.
"You must have spent considerable time around them."
"Only what was necessary."
Kira regarded the hacker. "Sounds lonely."
She'd never considered how isolated Odin was. No wonder the Sye made a habit of popping by every now and then.
"I'm alive. That's its own reward."
"Guess I can't argue with that," Kira said.
