Rowan woke before sunrise, a new mantra on her tongue.
"Every new day is a new beginning."
A soft tug pulsed in her chest. Not painful, just present.
She sat up slowly, breathing deeply and slowly.
"Let's not assume an emergency until proven otherwise."
After the wolves had escorted her home, and Alice left without a word, she hadn't had one text from Alice since then.
After joining Charlie (and a sleepy Bella soon joined) downstairs, Charlie looked at her, stirring his coffee absentmindedly.
"Good morning...you look shinier than usual." His dad-sense was working overtime. "If something's wrong, you can tell me. Or not. Either way, I'll still be here."
Rowan placed a hand on his, "I know. Thank you."
He relaxed, knowing she meant it.
Later, as Bella drove the two of them to Forks High, she glanced at Rowan. "You are doing that calm old tree thing. You are hiding something, I can feel it."
Rowan sighed, turning her attention toward Bella, "I'm concerned about Alice, but I'll handle it."
Bella nodded, "Ok, I trust you."
The trust weighed deeply inside Rowan's chest, and she hoped she deserved it.
---
Meanwhile at the Cullens...
Alice was spiraling.
Her skin was no longer like marble; now it was more human. There was a faint flush that warmed her cheeks. Her lips had a soft pink color. Her eyes glinted with hints of green... or was it blue?
And then she remembered the memory she'd received the prior day. Her real name.
Alice's breath hitched.
Jasper immediately noticed, "Alice? What's wrong?"
Emmett peeked in, "Dude, are you blushing?"
Carlisle appeared as if summoned, "Alice, may I?"
She nodded and he touched her cheek to find it warm.
Esme gasped beside him. Rosalie came next with eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Emmett stage whispered, "Is she...alive?"
Alice ran and hid in her walk-in closet.
---
Rowan had felt the shift; there was fragility in the bond that connected her to Alice now. "I'll check in on her after work."
After texting Rosalie, she got the Cullens' address, and before she could knock, the door swung open by Rosalie.
"What did you do?"
"I..."
Esme came up, "It's lovely to meet you, Rowan. Please come in. Alice is on the couch."
Rowan walked in with Rosalie shadowing her like an angry fairy.
As soon as she saw Alice in Jasper's lap on the couch, her magic hummed softly. Reassuringly.
"Alice."
Alice glanced up, "I'm more different than yesterday."
Rosalie murmured behind Rowan, "She's warm."
Emmett perked up from in front of the TV where he'd been playing some games, "She's like a space heater."
Jasper more quietly, "She's scared."
Rowan stepped closer, and slowly she knelt beside the couch. "You are not broken, Alice. Remember what you told me, you are just waking up. This is just a beginning."
She said it so calmly that even Rowan began to believe it herself.
Carlisle spoke up from the entrance of the living room, "It's not just that. Alice received a spontaneous memory shortly after physical contact with you. There was a physiological shift. Perhaps a small one, but unprecedented regardless."
Rowan sat on the ground and looked around at the tall marble-like predators (except for Alice now), "So you think I'm leaking magic?"
Emmett snorted, "That's the best case scenario."
Rosalie spoke up from where she had arranged herself between Rowan and Emmett, "Worst case, Rowan is more powerful than she realizes and could destabilize everything."
Rowan looked down at her clasped hands in her lap, wondering if this all was connected to the 'secret mission' that Elion had given her without actually telling her what it was. "I'm not trying to disrupt anything." Her hands tightened around each other so tight they turned white, but a burst of energy burst from them, causing glowing star-like pixie dust to fall from the ceiling around her. She hung her head and sighed.
"That's new," Jasper spoke softly.
"Involuntary, I promise. My magic has been doing whatever it wants lately."
Carlisle came forward, kneeling beside her, "How long has this been going on? Have you felt anything else unusual? Dreams? A pressure? Pulls to certain places."
Rowan kept her head down. She knew how the Cullens felt about the Volturi; she didn't need to put even a bigger target on her back.
"She's hiding something," Edward spoke up from the corner of the room.
Alice climbed off her mate's lap and knelt beside Rowan, grasping her hand gently. Her eyes gentle, "Rowan... we just want to understand what's happening. To me. To you. And if we should be afraid."
Rowan straightened and made eye contact with each Cullen, "You don't need to be afraid of me. Whatever this is, whatever is changing, I'm trying to control it. I don't want to hurt any of you."
Alice hugged her, careful not to squish her friend, smiling as Rowan relaxed into her arms.
Carlisle sighed, "Then, Rowan... let's talk honestly. About what you can do. About what might be coming. And what role do you play in all of this?"
Alice helped Rowan to sit on the couch beside Jasper, before sitting back in his lap.
Rowan sat on the edge of the sofa, trying not to feel the impending doom that rose inside of her.
Carlisle folded his hands. "Rowan, we'd like to understand your abilities better. We don't want to pressure you - we only need to ensure everyone's safety, including your own."
Rowan exhaled. Maybe it would be ok to tell someone at least the short version - the non-impossible version. "Ok, ask what you need to."
Edward leaned forward, "When did your magic begin increasing?"
Rowan took a moment choosing her words very carefully, "It's been building since I arrived in Forks. Every time I connect with someone or feel something strongly, the magic grows stronger. Like it reacts to bonds." She waved her hand around vaguely, "Emotional, magical...soul-thread stuff." She whispered that last part.
Jasper's brow raised, "So it's tied to relationships."
"In a way." Rowan slowly sat back into the sofa, "It's like when I care about someone, my magic begins caring too without asking for permission."
Rosalie gave an assessing look, "Can you control it at all, or is it mainly reactive?"
Rowan sighed, "Meditation helps a little bit to calm it, but not completely. Sometimes I can suppress it, but sometimes that makes it more unpredictable."
Carlisle gave Esme a look they both shared, and he asked again about dreams and pulls.
Rowan stiffened, and Alice noticed instantly, "Rowan?"
She had made up her mind to give a believable version of the truth. Sadly, mate bonds were part of that, no matter how she dreaded their reactions. "I've been dreaming." She whispered.
Rosalie stared with eyes narrowed, "About what?"
"Not what, who."
Carlisle tried to be the calmest in the room. "Go on."
Rowan took a deep breath, waiting for their inevitable panic at her next words. "Three men. Ancient. Pale. Tall. Watching me with crimson eyes. Three stone thrones in a stone and marble hall."
"The Volturi Kings," Edward spoke in a horrified whisper.
"Marcus is always so calm and quiet, as if waiting for me to make the first move. Caius circles me like a predator..."
"And Aro?" Jasper tenses.
Rowan closed her eyes, "He reaches for me."
The room erupted with shouts and movement while Carlisle and Esme remained calm beside her.
"What happens when he touches you, Rowan?" Carlisle speaks gently.
"Everything went white, and it felt as if I was pulled through a door made of light."
"A Dreamlink," Alice whispers.
Edward paces frantically, "This is bad, very bad."
Rowan whispers, "They were surprised as if they didn't expect to have reached me so soon. I think..." This is the part she was most nervous about as it mirrored what Alice had told her when she changed. "I think something's waking up. In me and in them. And the stronger my magic grows, the stronger the dreams get."
Carlisle stood slowly, "Then we have less time than we believed."
"Just fantastic, we are on a countdown," Emmett muttered.
"To what?" Rosalie frowned.
"To the day they find me."
Lights dimmed, and golden dust shimmered in the air.
Alice was taken into a vision with a gasp, and when her gaze cleared, she immediately made eye contact with Rowan. "Rowan, they already are looking for you."