Guilt washed over me. They didn’t need to be on the plane. Bex didn’t, either. If Hell pulled a fast one and the plane went down, we were helpless to stop it. I knew they didn’t question their presence, though, but that only made me feel worse. It was all of us, or none of us, and the display of the lengths our mismatched family would go to for each other brought tears to my eyes.

Jared wiped the tear that raced down my cheek. “Ready?”

I nodded, forcing a smile. “I was born for this, right?”

“We all were.”

The engines whined, and the plane wheels began to roll. The wing lights blinked against the fuselage, casting a red glare at half the time of my heartbeat.

“Try to relax,” Jared whispered. His voice held no conviction. He knew they were just words.

We all waited for our impending death, knowing our chances plummeted the second the plane was in the air. The flight to Jerusalem was long—too long to cope with constant fear that every jostle or noise would signal our fall from the sky.

I turned to look at my family. Claire and Ryan were in deep, quiet conversation. Bex sat next to Kim, chewing his pinky nail, and Kim stared blankly ahead. The engines whined as the wheels rolled forward. The pilot taxied on the runway, and after a short pause, the plane surged forward. The sudden acceleration of the aircraft pressed my back into the seat. I closed my eyes, trying not to feel every flaw in the runway, or the wind resistance against the wings. My new abilities were exciting, and at times had saved my life, but for the first time, I wished for the aptitude to turn them off.

As we raced faster and farther down the runway, I imagine the tiny wheels, and how on earth at that speed the plane didn’t veer off into the grass, or a building. At that point, everything that could possibly go wrong before we even got off the ground flashed through my mind, and my heart pounded so hard against my chest wall that I thought I would die of a heart attack before we left Providence.

“Nina,” Jared said in smooth tone. He leaned into my ear, and his lips brushed against my skin. He pulled my arm across him, and kissed my neck. I gripped his shirt, my knuckles white. I was relieved to be in the arms of my husband, but for all the wrong reasons.

“I’m afraid,” I said, stuttering.

“I know.” He gently held my jaw with both of his hands, and lowered his chin. His dark blue eyes met mine. “We’re going to make it. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Don’t start making promises you can’t keep, now.”