Free Before the Fall by Sable Grace

was as prepared as she’d ever be, she moved back to the tiny cutout windows. There were shadows cresting over the small hills in front of the fort. She checked her watch. 11:54.
    Six minutes until everything Zach had threatened would arrive at their door.
    Already there were dozens of shadowy, blurry creatures rushing toward the fort, but all too soon, there would be hundreds. Maybe thousands. Shanna didn’t know. Didn’t want to know. Right now, all she did know for sure was that for every person running toward her, there were two creatures chasing them. Her gaze shifted to Zach. He and the guards moved with a speed that shocked her, shoving people aside to get to the demons behind them.
    She aimed the shotgun at the closest thing she could identify as the enemy and squeezed the trigger. The demon staggered, putting distance between it and the person it was chasing.
    She aimed again. Fired again. The Ravelin filled with smoke, choking her and making her eyes water, but still she continued to reload and fire her weapon.
    â€œOne minute! Man your positions!”
    The roared demands were her orders to move as well. She wasn’t about to get trapped in the tiny room, away from Zach, waiting for monsters to descend upon her.
    Taking a deep breath, she moved to the door, checking for the quickest, least congested route to Zach’s side. There wasn’t one. She sent up a prayer, then opened the door.
    The cold air sucked the breath from her lungs but cleared her vision from the haze of gun powder. The instant the world came into view, detailing the death and destruction around her, she wished for the blur to return.
    She stood frozen in place and watched the carnage around her. Watched men and women being taken down one by one—running at full speed and then suddenly disappearing, taken into the shadows where God only knew what was happening to them. Blood painted the faces of those who did manage to run past, their features distorted in expressions of terror. Mouths agape. Eyes wide. The stench of death and blood hung so heavy in the air she was sure, if she had the ability to move, that she could reach out and touch it.
    But it was the children that spurred Shanna into action. The sound of their screams were so distinct from the adults, they cut straight through her ribs to tear at her heart. She had to make the Order open the gate, if for no other reason than to stop those horrifying screams so she could breathe again.
    She stepped outside the Ravelin, her heart pounding as she searched for Zach. In the few moments she’d turned her attention away from him, he’d disappeared, and now real panic was making her want to throw up.
    â€œShanna!”
    The sound of Zach’s cry managed to clear the haze of shock from her blood. She stood, searching for him, locating him a dozen feet away, sprinting in her direction.
    â€œBehind you! Run!”
    As if the world had tilted to slow motion, she turned. A demon, its long claws curled into weapons, reached for her.
    Shanna relied on instincts and punched. The long, silver spike on her ring embedded in its cheek. Red and black spread out from the punctures, as if the thing was on fire from the inside out. Lashing out, she sliced its throat, then kicked it backward to give herself time to run.
    The minute she reached Zach’s side, his free arm closed around her. As one, they backed toward the fort and the raised drawbridge. Something on the bastions caught Zach’s attention and he released her to turn around.
    â€œGive me clearance, Ares!” he roared, and Shanna turned to see a tall blond man above them, dressed from head to toe in silver and white armor. There was no time to be awed by the fact that she was staring at a real and true god. Ares shouted something to the guards at the gate, and to Shanna’s immense relief the drawbridge slowly lowered.
    She clung to Zach but her gaze remained locked on the massive steel and wooden