It was Luna who finally said it, on a Thursday afternoon in the kitchen, while Rowan was outside with Soran doing something involving sticks and an unclear objective.
"Has anyone noticed," Luna said, "that Rowan almost never uses the gift on Sera and Darius?"
Kira looked up from what she was doing.
"What do you mean?" Sera said.
"The gift," Luna said. "On other people — Dena, the Ledger cases, strangers who come through the gate — it reaches. We can all feel it reaching. But with the two of you, it just—" She made a gesture. "Sits. Quiet. Like it doesn't need to."
Sera held her cup.
She'd noticed this. She hadn't had words for it.
"With Marcus," Kira said slowly, "I remember — when Rowan read him at the table, the gift reached deliberately. There was a direction to it. A seeking." S
