But he wasn’t done.
The Nephilim dropped the limp body and stalked towards me. He was caught in the madness, the pure bloodlust that afflicted every one of his kind, and now that he’d seen me crouched over his prey, I’d been placed firmly in that category as well.
I raised my sword and backed away.
It went against everything in my nature, but the only way to stop a Nephilim was through pure force. Melisande would never forgive me if I damaged him just for being what he was.
“Tascius, stop.”
He prowled closer, then picked up a small boulder and raised it over his head, throwing it at me with a bellow.
I dodged the stone and heard it shatter into pieces on the bluff behind me. He drew his axe off his back, holding it like it weighed nothing.
“I’m not your enemy, Nephilim.”
He moved like lightning, from ten feet away to only inches in the blink of an eye. I raised my sword and caught the axe’s downswing, the impact jarring through my arms. He was fucking ungodly strong, swinging again without missing a beat.
I parried him, the muscles in my arms going numb with every sweeping stroke I caught. I summoned the light from inside myself, hoping to blind him, and Tascius growled low in his throat.
The sound of beating wings filled the air. I gritted my teeth, hoping Melisande had chosen a high perch away from the blindly-swinging blades.
There was no way he was going to burn out his rage if I just defended myself. Maybe pain would pull him out.
I lashed out with a kick, catching his thigh just above the knee. Tascius’s leg buckled and he dropped the axe, but his recovery time was amazingly fast, and I felt a hand close around my sword-arm.
He squeezed, grinding my bones together and forcing me to drop my sword.
I swung in with an uppercut to the jaw, a last-resort that had dropped many an enemy.
Tascius’s head snapped back, but he raised it again, a wild animal grin showing through the blood spilling from his mouth.
His fist found my stomach, pummeling into me with the force of a train. Dimly, I heard Melisande screaming something, but all my focus went on keeping the Nephilim from breaking loose.
I charged into him, knocking him to the ground and laying several heavy punches into his face and throat. He gripped my fists and kicked, rolling me in the dirt, and then it was my turn to feel knuckles meeting my nose.
A snap echoed through my skull as my nose shattered. Hot blood poured over my face, coating my mouth and chin, and through a bright burst of pain I saw Tascius draw his fist back to put it right through my head.
I jammed a knee upwards, driving it right into his balls. I would’ve felt worse about it if he hadn’t just shattered half my face.
I might as well have kicked a wall for all the good it did. He didn’t make a sound except the low, constant snarling, and seconds before he got in another punch, I heaved upwards and managed to flip him off me.
Tascius got up and bent low to charge, then my worst nightmare came true.
Melisande darted between us, her arms thrown out wide. “Stop! Tascius, stop, he’s not your enemy!”
The Nephilim had already been moving before she spoke. I was too far away, too slow to drag her aside before he ripped right through her.
Time seemed to slow to a halt; Melisande between us, Tascius barreling forward, the look on Azazel’s face as he looked up from sawing the oracle’s hands from her wrists.
Horror was stronger than the worst physical pain, my lungs freezing on a shout.
Tascius couldn’t stop in time; the Nephilim barreled into her and the pair went flying to the ground.
My chest felt like a vise as I hurried forward. There was a billow of darkness as Azazel took form next to us, both of us reaching down to lift Tascius away.
I blinked, unable to believe what I was seeing.
Melisande had thrown her arms around the Nephilim’s neck; she was kissing him furiously, and Tascius had one arm wrapped around her waist and the other braced on the ground, holding her just inches above it.
Whatever went on in the darkness inside his skull, he’d had the awareness to keep her from being crushed, from having her brains splattered all over the stone.
I dropped into a crouch, breathing a sigh of relief.
The Nephilim felt me near him and growled, and Melisande stroked his shoulders, calming the beast inside him.
I felt a twinge of pain as my nose started to heal and reached up through the gore to hold it straight.
Melisande finally broke the kiss, hugging him closer as he relaxed and resting her chin on his shoulder.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, still tracing little circles over his back. “You’re with me. Everything is fine.”
Her lower lip was swollen and bruised from how hard he’d run into her. She cracked an eye open, giving me a warning glare without saying a word.
Tascius released a long breath and slowly got to his feet, bringing her with him and picking her up. He hugged her so hard she groaned.
“I could’ve fucking murdered you,” he said hoarsely. “I could’ve killed you.”
He seemed dazed, but the angel didn’t release him. “You didn’t, though. Wherever you go when it happens, you still knew me.”
“I told you to stay in the air,” Azazel said tightly. He was staring at Melisande, his eyes hard. “You put yourself directly in harm’s way.”
She raised her chin. “They were going to beat each other to death.”
“I gave you explicit instructions that were there to keep you safe.” He was ice-cold, an emotion I knew all too well from a man who could be a harsh teacher.
“He wouldn’t hurt me,” Melisande said, her voice firm.
“You don’t know that!” Shadows wisped from Azazel’s skin, disappearing into the air like smoke.
Melisande shimmied out of Tascius’s arms, but
