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.
Odin changed the subject. "Do I want to know how you managed to remand the general into your custody? The Tuann aren't the type to give up possession of their prisoners."
"Probably not."
Odin chuckled. "That sounds like you."
"It does, doesn't it?" Kira said with a smirk.
Odin made a beckoning gesture. "Go ahead and summon him. I'm interested to see what the loyal hound has to say."
Kira shifted, uncomfortably. "About that—"
Odin sent her a questioning look.
"He's not exactly with me," Kira confessed.
Odin frowned. "I was under the impression you had him in your possession."
