Gershom began to rack up wounds.
“Lay down your swords, Gershom,” Seth ordered, still hammering away at him. “This ends now.”
A red slash appeared on Gershom’s cheek as Seth’s blade drew blood. Another appeared on his chest when David drew more.
Gershom’s face darkened as he roared with fury.
In the next instant, he vanished.
Aidan stumbled as his sword met empty air.
Seth spun around.
Gershom appeared behind Ami and—in the same instant—drew a blade across her throat. Her eyes widened and filled with pain as blood sprayed her husband and daughter.
“No!” Seth bellowed.
The sky above lit with a flash of lightning as thunder filled the clearing like an explosion. Dark clouds swelled in the sky, hiding the first twinkling stars.
Smiling, Gershom vanished.
Marcus spun around and caught his wife and baby as they fell.
“Aidan,” Seth snapped as he zipped over and knelt beside Ami.
Aidan teleported away, following Gershom’s energy trail to France. To Germany. Australia. Canada. Russia. Japan. And some places Aidan didn’t even recognize. But he stayed on Gershom’s heels, following the trails of energy he expended each time he teleported to a new destination. He caught up with Gershom in Finland and immediately swung his swords before Gershom could teleport away again.
The Other’s wounds must be wearing on him.
Gershom released a bestial sound, like a rabid dog cornered by hunters.
Pain flashed up Aidan’s arm as Gershom got in a lucky strike, but Aidan kept moving, kept swinging his swords. He just needed to hold the bastard until Seth could finish healing Ami and catch up.
Gershom vanished.
Swearing, Aidan teleported after him and found Gershom in a cramped alleyway in what he thought might be Lagos.
A man riding a bicycle gaped at them, so startled by their sudden appearance that he nearly lost his balance.
Gershom buried his blade in the man’s stomach, then teleported away.
Shite. Aidan caught the man as he fell and swiftly healed him. He took another few seconds to bury his memory of the incident and plant the suggestion that someone had bumped into him and spilled paint on his shirt. Then he teleported after Gershom to a country road he thought might be in Hawaii.
Gershom swung his swords, cutting down two lads who looked like teenagers.
Seth, Aidan called as Gershom teleported away. He knelt beside the boys and swiftly healed their wounds.
I’m on my way, Seth said in his head.
Hurry, Aidan implored, running so low on energy that his skin began to burn beneath the sunlight.
After burying the memories of the boys, he teleported away again. Following Gershom to China, he found himself on a narrow street, facing a row of homes that had fallen into disrepair.
Gershom’s latest victim, an elderly man, sank to the ground as Aidan appeared.
“You fucking coward!” Aidan shouted.
But Gershom teleported away.
Voices floated around the corner.
Grabbing the fallen man, Aidan ducked into the nearest home and found it empty.
Seth appeared.
Aidan knelt and laid the man on the floor. “Gershom is wounding innocents to slow me down.”
“Zach,” Seth said aloud, then teleported away.
Zach appeared, still clad in a military uniform. “Catch me up,” he ordered as Aidan healed the old man and altered his memories.
“Seth, David, and I were kicking Gershom’s arse at David’s place, so Gershom cut Ami’s throat and teleported away.”
“Motherfucker!”
“Seth stayed to heal her. I followed Gershom. When I caught up with him, he started injuring innocents to slow me down. Seth is following him now.”
Zach nodded. “Get some blood to replenish the strength you’ve lost, then return to the military installation and guard Lisette and the rest in case Gershom ends up there.”
“Zach,” Aidan said before the elder could teleport away, “ditch the uniform. Gershom is starting to hit more populated areas, and if you can’t bury every memory, we don’t want them to connect anything they see with the United States military.”
Zach’s clothes vanished, giving Aidan a split-second view of bare skin before the black shirt, black pants, and boots favored by Immortal Guardians cloaked his form.
Seth doggedly pursued Gershom, struggling to keep his rage under control.
The bastard had slit Ami’s throat. He had slit her throat and terrorized little Adira who, despite her youth, had understood exactly what had happened to her mommy.
Brazil. Norway. Tanzania. Thailand. Greece. Kazakhstan. Chile. Egypt.
Everywhere Gershom took him, the ground began to rumble and quake at Seth’s appearance. Clouds gathered.
He ground his teeth, trying harder to leash his temper.
Leave the damage control to me, Zach said in his head. It’s slowing you down.
He was right. Gershom could cut down a bystander in a second, then teleport away. It took Seth longer than that to heal wounds, bury memories, and plant an explanation for the bloodstains and torn clothing.
I’ll heal the injured and bury their memories, Zach continued. The network can scrub whatever appears on the internet. Just find Gershom’s ass and bury him.
Thank you. If you need help, summon Jared.
He won’t be able to keep up. None of the Others can.
Unfortunately, he was right. Then it’s just us.
As soon as Seth finished healing the couple at his feet, he teleported after Gershom again.
More wounded. Leaving the victims there without healing them went against Seth’s every impulse, but Gershom had gotten far enough ahead of him that he worried he would lose him soon.
Gritting his teeth, Seth teleported again and again, his control slipping a little more with each felled man, woman, or child he had to leave behind for Zach.
The gap tightened. Then tightened some more until Seth caught up with Gershom in…
Shit. Times Square. Which bustled with activity.
Gershom grabbed a pregnant woman, drew her back against him, and locked an arm around her throat.
Whimpering, the woman dropped her shopping bag and clutched his arm.
Gershom breathed hard as he tightened his hold and staggered back a step. Blood oozed from multiple wounds as he glared at Seth and raised a dagger.
“Don’t,” Seth blurted. He tried without success to yank the blade away from Gershom using telekinesis.
His lips twisting in a sneer, Gershom buried the dagger in the woman’s chest.
Screams erupted.
Brakes squealed as pedestrians scattered, running into traffic and darting into businesses.
Dropping the woman, Gershom huffed a pained laugh and spat blood.
Seth dashed forward to catch her before she could hit the pavement.
Some valiant men nearby tried to tackle Gershom.
Dark wings burst through the back of Gershom’s bloodstained coat and spread wide, knocking the men down.
More onlookers screamed. Some crossed themselves.