Alice was trying so hard to keep a pleasant smile on her face that she almost didn’t notice it, the sudden stillness in the back of her mind breaking with the faintest ripple that told her if she just focused she could see what she wanted to see. It clicked then, who the unwitting trigger must be, her eyes widening slightly with realization, but she couldn’t be completely sure. Not until she went forward again through her third sight with Stefan as her touchstone, one of the few pure vampires here which made him an even more likely candidate.
She hadn’t planned on sharing her gift with many outsiders, Christian and his kind being a rare exception because like her and Jasper, they were also gifted and would be seen as prizes among the Volturi if they were ever discovered. But now she didn’t know if she had a choice in the matter, at least if her instinct was right and Stefan was the person she was looking for.
It was rude to ignore a guest’s question, but at the moment Alice was still half driven by that phantom emotion, an echo of pain she hoped that she could prevent if she got a clearer picture of what was to come. So she stepped forward toward the other vampire, allowing her concern to filter through in her expression as she reached out a pale hand, and asked, “Could I please see your hand?”
It was an odd question, especially between strangers so Alice couldn’t help her smile of relief when he only hesitated briefly before reaching out to her. When their hands touched Alice’s mind flew away like a startled bird, rushing back to the prison, the crowd, the human the blood. She still couldn’t see a face, hair matted over the delicate broken features, but it was all distinctly clearer. This was the man who would witness the end result of a death. There was no choice Stefan could make to change it because his future was as a witness to this event. Whatever he might change time currently dictated him as being too late.
“I’m so sorry,” the words broke out from her before she could think better, eyes filled concern and a quiet apology as she looked into his.