Chapter 10 #2
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 gets too 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.
I half-run, half-waddle for the apartment door and the stairs. My breath comes in short, panicked bursts, the baby pressing on my lungs. Behind me, Nick's battle rages, crashes, screams, the sharp crackle of magic.
I make it down three steps before something lands in front of me.
An angel. Its face is beautiful and empty, its eyes like chips of ice.
"The child will serve a greater purpose," it says, reaching for me.
I stumble back, nearly losing my balance. My hand shoots out, grabbing the railing like a lifeline.
The angel explodes backward, slamming into the wall so hard the plaster cracks. Nick's there, his hand outstretched, magic crackling between his fingers.
"Touch her again," he says, his voice dropping into something that barely sounds human, "and I'll erase you from existence."
The angel struggles to its feet, but Nick's already moving. He grabs it by the throat, lifts it like it weighs nothing, and throws it down the stairs. It crashes through the bottom door, tumbling into the bakery.
"Go," Nick tells me. "Stay close to me."
We go down together, Nick in front, me clutching the railing for dear life. Every step is a struggle. The baby's still thrashing, stealing what little breath I have left.
The bakery is chaos.
Demons and angels both, filling my space, destroying the place I've built with my own hands. Tables are overturned. Glass cases shattered.
Fury cuts through the fear. This is my home. My safe place. Or it was.
They don't get to do this.
Nick steps into the middle of it all, and the temperature drops so fast I can see my breath.
"Enough."
His voice isn't loud, but it carries. Every entity in the room freezes, their attention snapping to him.
For the first time, I see what they see when they look at him.
Not Nick, my devoted partner, my baby's father.
But something else. Something that judges. Something that can see into the darkest corners of your soul and tally up every sin, every secret.
He who knows exactly who's been naughty.
The demons shrink back. Even the angels look uncertain.
"You were warned," Nick says, and snow begins to fall inside the bakery. Impossible snow that doesn't melt, that shimmers with magic. "You were told to stay away. But you came anyway."
A demon lunges.
Nick doesn't flinch.
The creature freezes mid-leap, suspended in the air. Then it begins to crack, fissures of light spreading through its body.
"Every year," Nick continues, his voice soft and terrible, "I see everything. Every act of kindness. Every cruelty. Every choice made in light or darkness. Do you think I don't know what you are? What you've done?"
The demon shatters.
Another tries to run. Nick gestures, and chains of ice wrap around it, dragging it back.
"You wanted the child? You wanted to corrupt her? Turn her into a weapon?" His eyes blaze. "She is mine. Her mother is mine. And you will never touch them."
An angel moves toward me.
Nick's there first.
I don't even see him move. One second, he's across the bakery, the next, he's between me and the angel, his hand buried in its chest. The angel's eyes go wide, its mouth opening in a silent scream.
"I told you," Nick says quietly. "I will erase you."
The angel dissolves. Just…gone. Like it was never there to begin with.
I can't breathe. Can't even begin to process what I'm seeing.
This is the man who wraps his arms around my pregnant belly at night. Who whispers sweet things to our baby. Who makes me breakfast and rubs my feet when they ache.
And he's absolutely, bone-deep terrifying.
The remaining entities are backing away now, scrambling for the exits. But Nick's not done.
He raises a hand, and the doors slam shut. Lock.
"No one leaves until I say so."
A massive demon, bigger than the others, steps forward. Its voice is like grinding stones. "You cannot fight us all, Kringle. Eventually, you will tire. And when you do, we will take what is ours."
"She was never yours." Nick's voice is ice. "But you're right about one thing. I could fight you all night. And I would win. But I have better things to do."
He snaps his fingers.
The bakery door explodes inward, and someone else steps through.
Everett.
I recognize him from the visions Nick has shown me over the last few weeks through the mirror, introducing me to his home. Tall, sharp-featured, impossibly beautiful, with an energy that crackles around him like static.
"About time, boss," Everett says, cracking his knuckles. "I was wondering when you'd call."
The two of them move in perfect synchronization. Where Nick is ice and winter, Everett is lightning and fury. Together, they're unstoppable.
I watch from the corner where I've wedged myself, my hands on my belly, trying to keep my breathing steady. The baby's still moving, but slower now. Like she knows the tide is turning.
A demon tries to slip past them, heading for me.
Nick sees it.
His hand shoots out, and the demon freezes mid-step. Then it starts to burn. That same blue-white fire, consuming it from the inside out.
"I warned you," Nick says, his voice carrying over the sounds of battle. "I told you what would happen."
The demon's screams cut off as it turns to ash.
Nick turns to the largest demon, the one who spoke. "You get to live. But only so you can deliver a message."
The demon's eyes widen.
"Tell whoever sent you," Nick says, each word precise and deadly, "that Samantha is mine. The child is mine. And if anyone ever comes for them again, what you've seen here tonight will look like child's play. You're not even allowed to think about her. Let alone come near her."
The demon nods frantically.
Nick waves a hand, and the door unlocks. "Run."
It doesn't need to be told twice.
The remaining entities flee in its wake, scrambling over each other to escape. In seconds, the bakery is empty except for Nick, Everett, and me.
Silence falls, broken only by the sound of my own ragged breathing.
Nick turns to Everett, his expression softening slightly. "Thank you, old friend."
Everett grins, though there's blood on his knuckles. "Anytime, boss. That was almost fun."
"Almost?"
"Would've been better with more demons."
Nick actually laughs, the sound rough but genuine. Then his attention shifts to something behind them.
I follow his gaze.
Ella.
She's standing in the doorway, eyes wide, face pale. She must have heard the commotion. Must have come to check on me.
And she's seen everything.
The demons. The angels. The magic. All of it.
Her mouth opens. Closes. Opens again.
"What," she finally says, her voice barely a whisper. "In. The. Absolute. Fuck?"
Nick and Everett exchange a glance.
I want to laugh. Or cry. Or maybe both at once.
But then pain rips through my abdomen, sharp and sudden, stealing the air right out of my lungs.
I double over, clutching my belly. The pain eases, then comes back, harder this time.
Oh, no.
Oh no. No, no, no.
"Samantha?" Nick's across the bakery in an instant, his hands on my arms. "What's wrong?"
I look up at him, breathless, terrified, excited.
"I think..." I gasp as the contraction deepens. "I think I'm going into labor."
The look on his face would be hilarious if I wasn't currently dealing with my insides trying to tie themselves in knots.
"Right now?" he asks.
"Apparently, your daughter has impeccable timing."
Ella's already moving, her shock forgotten. "Okay. Okay, we need to get her to the hospital. Now. I'll get the car."
Everett's grinning like this is the best thing that's happened all year. "Congratulations, boss. Looks like you're about to be a father. But might I suggest another location other than the hospital?"
I feel more than hear Ella's frustrated sigh. "What in the hell are you talking about, GQ?"
Despite the contraction still ripping through me, something about the exchange between Ella and Everett has my attention glued to them.
"GQ?" Everett repeats, then rolls his eyes, looking at Ella as if she's an exhausting child. "Your friend is giving birth to an entity that belongs to both worlds."
I want to argue with the elf referring to my soon-to-be born child as an entity, but the contraction is still currently stealing my breath.
"She needs a midwife who can assist in case there are…complications."
My sharp intake of breath at the word "complications" is all Nick needs to go full concern on me.
"Hey," he says, pulling my chin up. "It's okay. Everything is going to be just fine. But Everett has a point."
"Okay," I breathe. "Just…let's go somewhere because this…hurts like hell."
"Fine," Ella says, something like steel and exasperation in her voice all at once. "But I'm going with you. Wherever in the hell you weirdos are from."
Nick sighs as he lifts me into his arms, cradling me against his chest, I catch one last look at the bakery. Shattered glass, overturned tables, the whole place looking like it lost a fight with a tornado.
My safe space, ripped to pieces.
But in Nick's arms, with Ella rushing ahead and Everett clearing a path, I realize something.
Turns out, my safe space isn't the bakery anymore.
It's him.
And our daughter is about to meet the most stubbornly protective father the world has ever seen.
Another contraction steals my breath, and I bury my face in Nick's shirt, holding on for dear life.
"Hold on, darlin'," he says softly. "Just hold on. I've got you."
I believe him.
Through the pain, through the fear, through everything.
I believe in him.