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No!
The urgency of the message crackled in her spirit like chain lightning. Her heart pounded, galloping wildly over the fields of confusion. What was wrong? This was all good. Her flight was leaving. She was on her way to Addisyn. Why the warning?
Avery realized she was gripping the arms of her chair, the cold metal slippery in her sweaty hands. She took a deep breath. Surely she had misunderstood the message. Everything was okay. Right?
But instead of easing, the tension in her soul tripled.
This is not the way!
Not the way?Really? Avery had fought with crazy recklessness to get to Addisyn. She’d maneuvered the obstacle course of Brian’s office, LaGuardia, rude people, big cities, connecting flights, bad weather. And only by getting to Chicago as soon as possible could she ever hope to see Addisyn again. A brief sizzle of irritation flared inside her mind. Of course this was the way!
No! This is not the way!
With everything in her, Avery wanted to ignore the warning. Yet she’d learned that the messages were not something to be taken lightly. They were the words of the God she served.
Okay, El Shaddai...then show me what I am to do...
Looking for clues, Avery glanced around the plane. Other passengers were boarding and choosing seats as if nothing were out of the ordinary. She turned her focus to the runway. Under the blanket of violet clouds and fitful bursts of sun, all was clear. The air traffic controllers were conversing on the runway, waiting to usher them into the sky. She saw no disturbances, no signs that anything was amiss.
There was only one more place to check. Avery peered out the window toward the airport. Again, all was fine. A transport bus had just pulled away with a roar and a cough of exhaust. Some people were coming out of the big front doors, while others were standing in the windows, looking out at the—
With the impact of a high-speed train, Avery’s world crashed into a crystal wall of disbelief. There, framed perfectly in the big plate-glass window of LaGuardia, stood a girl, staring out into the evening. A girl with big, expressive eyes and chocolate-colored hair. A girl whose face was as familiar to Avery as her own.
Avery grabbed a single gasping breath.Addisyn?No, that couldn’t be. Addisyn was in Chicago with Brian. She pressed her face to the glass, straining her eyes. Was she so frantic to see her sister that she had started imagining things? Surely she was wrong!
The girl in the window was seemingly staring right at the very window where Avery was sitting. She flicked her hand restlessly through her long hair.
With one bound, Avery was on her feet, heaving her backpack desperately onto her shoulders. That was Addisyn. The mannerisms, the hair, the expression—she couldn’t be mistaken, especially in the bright lights from the airport. She didn’t know how or why, but her sister was here.
Disbelief was still throbbing insistently in her mind, but the questions would wait. Now all that mattered was getting to Addisyn. Avery scrambled out of her aisle, nearly losing her balance as she caught her foot on the metal leg of one of the seats. Before she could think, she was running, pushing past the last few passengers to board, ducking by the flight attendant who stood ready to close the door.
A handful of tardy people were still making their way up the jet bridge. Avery was dodging them, shoving them out of the way. Her breath ripped at her lungs. What if Addisyn went somewhere else? What if she vanished again?
She was into the concourse. Now she was running as fast as she could, feet pounding, heart racing, backpack bouncing on her shoulders. Her eyes flew wildly around the huge area. Which window had it been? Things looked different than they had from the plane. Disoriented, she slowed slightly.
Oh, suppose it had been her crazy imagination after all?
There!The girl was still huddled by the window. As if she were just waiting for Avery to find her.
Running wasn’t fast enough. Avery kept her eyes riveted on the petite figure. “Addisyn!” The girl didn’t even look up. Avery tried again, screaming her sister’s name this time, loud enough to be heard over all the noise of LaGuardia.“Addisyn!”
Her sister wheeled at the sound of her name. Confusion rippled her expression as she scanned the mobs of people. Then she met Avery’s eyes.
As if hope were shining directly on her soul, her whole face lit up in a joyful glow. “Avery!” And she was running toward her sister as fast as she could.
The tears weren’t long in coming. Avery could feel them pouring down her cheeks as she closed the final gap between herself and Addisyn. Her doubts and fears and anxieties had vanished. As she caught her sister in her arms, all she could think about were the miracles.
The miracle that her sister was here, in her arms. That when she had seen Avery, she had run toward her, not away from her. That she was apparently willing to give Avery another chance.
The miracle that the timing had been so carefully choreographed that somehow, in the crazy mayhem of connecting flights and out of the over two hundred thousand people that passed through LaGuardia on any given afternoon, the two of them had found each other—just in the nick of time.
And the miracle that in this place, this place above all others that Avery had hated and wanted to escape, she had found the one treasure above all others that mattered more to her than anything else on earth.
Her sister.
ADDISYN COULDN’T BELIEVEshe was truly in her sister’s arms again. One moment she’d been praying by the window, longing for one more chance.
And the next she’d heard her name slice through the tumult of the concourse, and her memory had throbbed to life at the sound of the voice who called her.
