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front of the house. I crouch lower, pulling Sam with me. The Mothman’s red eyes land on me when we move, and he releases a shrill scream. Mom lunges forward, releasing a loud grunt as she attacks.
    Sam and I run out from behind the porch in time to see her plunge the blade into its chest, twisting it with a jerk before pulling it out. I pump my fist in the air and jump, fueled by more adrenaline than I’ve ever felt running through my body. Sam is on the ground, clutching his face in his hands while he stares wide-eyed at the Mothman. The creature stumbles, his body weaving from one side to the other, but never falls. Mom doesn’t wait to see what happens. She turns and runs toward us.
    “I don’t think you got him!” Seth yells.
    “I know that, Seth!” she shouts, breathing heavily. “We have to go! You take Charlie. I’ve got Sam.”
    She grabs Sam, lifting him from the ground in one swift movement, and Seth moves closer to me. I can’t take my eyes off the Mothman as he struggles to steady himself.
    “Ellauria?” Mom asks, and Seth nods.
    Ell-who-ia?
    “You take the bridge gate. We’ve got the one by the woods,” Seth tells her.
    I look at Mom. “Wait, what? What’s going on?”
    She cups my chin in her hand. “Listen to Seth,” she says, her brown eyes fierce. “No matter what happens in the next few hours, trust in him, and remember I love you. Sam and I will meet you there.”
    “Where?” I ask.
    Sam turns toward me, his green eyes wide with a mixture of confusion and terror, and there’s no time for words before he and Mom vanish.
    Vanish .
    I gasp, frozen by the sheer impossibility of what just happened.
    Seth’s arms circle my waist. “Don’t let go,” he orders, and in a blink, everything disappears. My stomach jumps, my head spins, and I am weightless.

    Seth releases me when I feel something solid beneath my feet again. I spin around. We’re standing at the edge of a forest, barely inside the tree line. The dense trees swallow the moonlight. I step closer to Seth. “What just happened? Is the Mothman dead?”
    Seth’s arm comes around my waist, pulling me forward with him while his eyes dance over our surroundings, never resting on anything for very long. “No, he’s not dead, but Adele slowed him down. You have to get his heart, right under his ribs, to kill him.”
    Adele. It’s so weird to hear him call her something besides Mrs. Page. Seth drags me along, and I can hardly see the path beneath my feet. I’m so terrified by what might be sneaking up behind me that I can’t focus on what’s ahead. The Mothman is still out there. I squint, trying to see more through the darkness, but it’s no use. My knees go all rubbery, and I concentrate on planting one foot in front of the other.
    “Where are Mom and Sam?”
    “They’ll meet us in Ellauria,” Seth states, pushing branches away with his hands. He’s not running, but he’s not quite walking either. We’re buzzing through the forest on our way to a place I’m reasonably sure isn’t on any map I’ve ever seen.
    I don’t know what’s happened. I don’t know where we’re going. All I have right now is Seth, and I’m not entirely certain what to think of him. He’d appeared out of nowhere tonight and jumped into action. He hadn’t asked us what was going on. He didn’t freeze up. He ran toward the Mothman, not from it. Who is he?
    He glances at me. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
    I swallow. I don’t feel safe. That Mothman showed up with hardly any warning, and he moved so fast, jumping straight up into the air like that. I close my eyes briefly, and long, sharp talons appear behind my eyelids.
    Listen to Seth .
    I open my eyes and study Seth’s profile. “How’d you do the disappearing thing?” I ask. “We were at my house one second and now we’re here.”
    “It’s called flickering. The first few times are a rush,” Seth says. “After a while you get used to it, and you hardly notice that