Kira didn’t move her hand from Jin's. "No need. It’s my fault. I wasn't expecting Jin to have company."
The woman's face softened as she looked down at Kira's friend. There was something in her expression that made Kira feel like she was intruding.
"Do you want me to come back?" Kira found herself offering.
Immediately afterward, she frowned. It wasn’t like her to be so kind to a stranger. Someone who was already interrupting these few precious moments she got with her best friend.
The woman rose, her gaze lingering on the boy’s face. "That won’t be necessary. I was about to leave."
She glided to the door, Kira staring after her. The oshota from earlier was already waiting for her when it opened.
Amila gave the woman a respectful bow as the door closed.
"Jin, I don't want to alarm you or anything—but I think you just met your mother," Kira said.
That was the only person it could be. Jin and Devon may have inherited their father's coloring and some of his facial features, but the rest they'd gotten from the woman who'd just left.
A woman whose existence was so steeped in mystery that Kira hadn’t been certain she was still alive.
No one talked about her. Not even a whisper to suggest she was still present in either the emperor or Devon’s lives.
There was a complete information black out. To the point Kira had to wonder if it was purposeful or not.
Either way, she appreciated that the woman had visited her son. Even if she was a little tardy.
"Odin finally got in contact with me."
Kira pulled out one of Jin’s spawn. The last she had been able to get her hands on. And that only because she had overlooked its hiding spot in her room. It was a tinier version of the mechanical bird. Its parts just as intricate and complicated.
"The Sye is as enigmatic as ever. The message they left was four words. That’s it. 'The next phase begins.'" Kira fiddled with the bird. "I wonder how many phases Odin has planned."
Her own arrangements were a little less convoluted. There was really only one phase. Finding the Osiri and wiping them out of existence.
"I haven't heard from Pallas yet. I don't know whether to hate him or be grateful for his interference."
Although Pallas wasn't the mastermind behind Rothchild, he was still responsible for so many deaths. Something like that was hard to get over.
"Elise hasn't woken up either. Just like you. Elena and Raider are keeping her company, but I can see the toll it's taking." Kira rested her head on Jin's arm. "Is this what it was like when you were waiting for me to come out of my coma?"
If so, she didn't know how he'd gotten through those three years. The last two months had been hell.
After that, Kira no longer had the heart to chat. She hummed under her breath, staring out the window. Every once in a while, she sang a few bars. Jin had always liked the sound of her voice. She could only hope it was strong enough to reach him where he slumbered.
Gradually, though, she sang less and less, staring out the window at the forest beyond as she got lost in her thoughts.
Her forehead furrowed at the clinking sound coming from the bed. Like that of gears turning.
Kira looked over to find the bird’s wings fluttering.
"Jin?"
The boy's eyelids moved.
Kira rose from her seat to lean over him. "Come on, Jin. Open your eyes. Just a little more."
Golden irises, bewildered and vague looking, focused on hers. "Don't be silly. I don't have eyes."
Kira’s laugh was almost a sob. "You do now, stupid."
