Nick's whole body goes still. Then he turns his head slightly, just enough to meet my eyes.
"No matter what happens," he says quietly, "stay behind me."
The wards shatter, the sound sharp as breaking glass.
Everything goes sideways at once.
The entities pour into the bedroom, a nightmare made real. Demons with too many limbs and eyes that burn red. Angels with faces too perfect, too cold, their wings edged in silver that cuts the air like blades.
Nick moves.
I've never seen anything like it.
This isn't the gentle, devoted man who holds me at night. This is something else. Something ancient, powerful, and honestly, terrifying.
Magic explodes from his hands, bright and cold as winter. It slams into the first demon, and the creature screams, its body freezing solid before shattering into a thousand pieces.
An angel lunges, its blade raised. Nick catches it with one hand, the metal hissing where it touches his skin. Then he rips the blade free and drives it through the angel's chest.
"You touch her, and you die," he snarls.
More come. They keep coming.
I scramble off the bed, clumsy and slow, every muscle screaming. I need to move. Need to get somewhere safe. But where? They're everywhere.
Nick fights like he was born to it. Every movement precise, brutal. He doesn't waste energy, doesn't hesitate. A demon getstoo close, and he incinerates it with fire that burns blue-white. An angel tries to flank him, and he freezes the air around it, trapping it in ice.
But there are so many.
"Samantha, move!" His voice cuts through the chaos.
I stumble for the door, one hand on my belly, the other gripping the wall. The baby's still fighting, still kicking. Her panic feels like it's crawling under my skin.
Something grabs my arm.
I scream.
The demon's face is right in front of mine, all teeth and malice. Its claws dig into my arm, and the smell of sulfur and rot hits me like a punch.
"The child," it hisses. "Give us the child."
Nick's roar shakes the apartment.
The demon doesn't even have time to react.
One second, it's holding me; the next, it's on fire. Not regular fire. This is something else, something that burns hotter than anything should. The demon's scream cuts off as it disintegrates, reduced to ash in seconds.
Nick's suddenly in front of me, a wall between me and everything else. His hand finds my arm where the demon grabbed me, checking for damage like he's afraid I'll break.
"Did it hurt you?"
"I'm okay. I'm okay."
His eyes are wild. Not quite human. There's something in them that looks older than time, full of a power I can't even begin to understand.
"Get to the stairs," he says. "Now."
I don't argue.
