of the corridor, his hand wrapped around the neck of a much smaller figure. The Tuann held the person up in front of him, his victim’s toes barely brushing the floor.
Kira shot Jin a look that said see. "Those same scanners that continually fail to detect Graydon or any oshota?"
Jin lowered several inches, his tone sulky. "I suppose you're never going to let me forget this."
Kira glanced at the two figures in front of her. "You suppose right."
The figure in Finn’s grasp lifted a hand in a halfhearted wave. "I'm guessing you have a lot to say right about now."
"You've got that right,” Kira said grimly
"Have the oaf put me down, and we can discuss."
Kira glanced at Finn to see one very unhappy oshota. Something told her he wasn’t in the listening mood. Considering recent events, she didn't blame him.
As her accepted oshota, it was his duty to protect her from all dangers. Something that became exceedingly difficult when Kira went off on her own.
Unsurprisingly, Finn didn’t loosen his grip, Odin dangling like a scolded cat.
An eye patch covered one of Odin’s eyes, the other a green so brilliant that it looked like an emerald. No glint of an earring could be seen, signifying Odin was in his masculine persona. His features a little less feminine than the last time she'd seen him.
The change was subtle. The line of his jaw a little sharper, his nose and cheekbones a little blunter. Even with these changes, his face had a certain androgyny to it. Not female but not male either, rather a perfect blend of both.
Odin came from a rare race that had minor shape-shifting capabilities. They didn't experience gender in the same way humans did. For them, there were three possible genders: masculine, feminine, and the sye—which as near as Kira understood meant all and none. It was a sort of nongender that refused definition.
For as long as Kira had known him, Odin had flipped through the three forms according to whim. She'd once asked him how he decided between the three. He'd told her that the spirit knew and the body followed.
When Finn's expression didn't relent, Kira focused on Odin. "Something tells me you're on your own."
Odin shot her a sour look but didn’t struggle.
"I suppose I don't need to ask how you got on the ship," Kira said, glancing at Finn.
As they'd seen more than once over the last month or so, Jin's scanners weren't full proof when it came to the oshota. Their synth armor combined with a very interesting manipulation of ki shielded them from detection. Her time on Ta Sa'Riel had opened her eyes to the wide world of ki's application. Everything she'd thought she'd known before only touched the barest surface.
Nor was she surprised Odin had managed to circumvent the scanners. Like Finn, the hacker had probably been on board the entire time, only being discovered by Finn once the excitement faded.
Odin was always quite good at finding his way into places he didn't belong. Kira simply hadn’t expected for her ship to be one of them.
For the moment, Kira ignored Odin, focusing on Finn. "How much did you hear?”
"Enough."
Kira took that to mean he knew who Elena was—and probably everything else that had been discussed.
"Pretty smart to stay hidden."
"I thought so."
"Right about now, I bet you wish you hadn't agreed to Graydon's request to be my oshota," Kira ventured.
"It had occurred to me."
Kira supposed she deserved that. Sneaking out of the Fortress without notifying him, getting stuck on a ship heading off-planet, not to mention the major secrets she'd been keeping—yeah, he had a reason to be touchy.
Elena appeared at the end of the corridor, her hair slightly damp and she was wearing a fresh change of clothes. She stopped short, a towel hanging forgotten in her hand.
Her gaze flicked cautiously between Kira and the other two.
The lack of surprise in her expression told Kira her niece had known about Odin’s presence the entire time.
Her niece hadn’t been the one to launch Jin’s defense sequence. Odin had. Elena had just gone along for the ride.
A murderous aura seeped from Kira even as a gentle smile formed. "That reminds me—I have a score to settle with you, Odin."
Wariness registered in Odin’s eye.
Not enough. Not nearly enough to satisfy Kira.
That was okay. She could fix that.
Sensing the shift in Kira, Finn slowly set Odin down.
"Let's not be hasty." Odin backed away holding up his hands.
"Jin."
"My pleasure." A maniacal cackle came from Jin as he advanced.
Odin