Before the Fall

by Sable Grace

  “You all right?” he whispered, rising onto his elbows so she could breathe more easily.

  “Don’t move.” She kissed his nose, smiling the first real smile he’d seen in hours. “Just . . . stay. A minute more.”

  No problemo. He wasn’t any more eager to separate than she was. It felt amazing, being nestled so deeply inside her. Still hard as steel yet satisfied.

  Not having had sex since they’d broken up, Shanna was tender in places she’d nearly forgotten she possessed. Still, no amount of swollenness was going to push her to request he exit her body any time soon. It felt too right, holding him there. With all the craziness going on around them, this, of all things, felt normal. Perfect.

  Yet, still temporary.

  Even if she could imagine herself as part of this cuckoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs world he lived in, which she couldn’t, if she told him right here and now that she was still in love with him, that she wanted to marry him and have his babies, he’d think she was out of her mind. He wouldn’t necessarily run—Zach had never had a problem with commitment. But he did have a problem with trust. In particular, trusting Shanna. She’d already broken that precious gift once. She didn’t think she had it in her to ask him to give it to her again.

  But what if she could find a place within his world, protecting people as she’d always done, the same way he did?

  Was she really cut out for more of the shit that had been chasing her all night?

  She loved him. That much she knew. But the question was: did she love him enough to change her entire life and belief system for him? And if she did, would he even want her to do so, after the way she’d walked out on him?

  If only God—or the gods . . . she wasn’t even sure about that part of her life anymore—could show her some proof that this was the course her life was meant to take . . .

  But judging by the screams in the distance, the gods had more important things to take care of than offering people signs. She was going to have to figure this one out on her own.

  Chapter Eleven

  11:51 p.m.

  9 minutes before the fall . . .

  It felt like only minutes from the time Shanna allowed herself to close her eyes to the moment the sound of ripping whistles woke her. She was hesitant to pull herself out of the cozy contentment of lying in Zach’s arms, but she pried open her eyes, immediately regretting the decision as she caught a glimpse of raining fire, visible through the loopholes in the Ravelin’s walls.

  “Wake up!” She reached over to shake Zach, but he was already struggling to pull on his jeans. She felt around the dark quarters for her own clothes.

  As she dressed, she scooted her body around so she could see out the partially open door where Zach stood, watching in frozen fascination as the midnight sky lit up with bright orange fire and black smoke. He pressed a button on his watch, lighting up the cave-like cell with bright green digital numbers. 11:51. Hell was going to officially open in nine minutes.

  Fear seared Shanna’s lungs as she fumbled with her shoes, her hands shaking so badly she couldn’t work the laces. The ground beneath the Ravelin was rumbling and the sentinels all around them were shouting, making her blood pump in anticipation of what was to come.

  Burning arrows, hundreds of them, whistled and sang as they soared over the fort toward the grassy hills surrounding the front side of the structure. Zach seized his sword, his gaze steady on the very thing that had Shanna’s heart pumping. The streets in front of the Castillo were no longer vacant. Hundreds of shadows inched their way toward the fort, making Shanna realize how freaking vulnerable they were sitting right outside the shadows’ destination.

  “There are so many,” she whispered. She was getting ready to fall into a full-fledged panic, her skin slowly coating with sweat even though she was freezing. “Zach, they have to let us into the fort! We’re defenseless here.”

  His gaze turned from the doorway to stare at her. For an instant, she thought she saw fear in the dark depths of his eyes, but he looked away before she could be certain. “Stay put.”

  “I’m not waiting here for them to find me.”

  If they’d have opened their doors sooner, none of those people would be in such danger. Shanna ground her palms against her temples, and before she could focus again, Zach had slipped out. Not able to see anything from the doorway, she moved to peer out one of the loopholes, quietly calling Zach every name she could think of as she tried to see which direction he’d run. She finally spotted him among a row of guards blocking the old wooden bridge, each holding a weapon similar to his.

  Lights flickered to life around the top of the fort, casting the grounds around it in a faint glow that made it a little easier to see what the hell was going on, but that didn’t bring much comfort. Not when she was completely alone.

  Zach had left her there while he went to fight with the other guards—had assumed she’d be safe in the damp, dark Ravelin. He was out of his ever-loving mind.

  Their stances proclaimed their priority was to protect those already inside the fort, not those trying to get in. They might open the doors, but not if it meant jeopardizing those whose lives they valued most. What kind of Order of protection was this? It was bullshit!

  Anger and frustration sent her back into the shadows of the Ravelin. She dug through the weapons bag, slipping the silver knuckles on before setting the shotgun in her lap. The silver stakes went into one back pocket, the daggers into the other. She loaded the shotgun and stuffed the remaining shells into her pockets.

  Satisfied that she 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.

  “One 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 f
ew moments she’d turned her attention away from him, he’d disappeared, and now real panic was making her want to throw up.

  “Shanna!”

  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.

  “Behind 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.

  “Give 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 planks, praying that those she could hear manning the cranks could make it go faster.

  Forcing her gaze back to the fight going on in front of her, she peered around Zach. A semi-circle of bodies stood beside him like solid stone, offering one last line of defense, protecting those already inside their headquarters and those literally dying to get in. Shanna tried not to think of what was about to happen to her world. She gripped the daggers in her sweaty palms, wishing she’d kept the shotgun and not just its useless shells in her pocket.

  Sword-wielding guards stood shoulder to shoulder inside and around the dry mote. The Ravelin was lined with bowmen trying to slow down the blur of shadows running across the sloping hills surrounding the fort, and protecting the people who’d taken up refuge there.

  The drawbridge cranks stopped and so did Shanna’s heart. If they didn’t get that bridge lowered right now, she and Zach and a hundred more humans were going to be devoured.

  And then, they stopped coming. In unison, the demons approaching the fort froze on the hill, gazing up at the sky. The majority were shot down in an instant, and as Shanna felt herself filling with hope that this whole nightmare might be over, she heard Ares shout one more time.

  “Now!”

  The ground began to quake and rubble fell from the walls of the fort as Shanna watched dozens of cloaked figures step onto the fort walls and point what looked like wands toward the ground.

  “Subsisto stabilis quod validus!” They chanted the words over and over again, and while tiny white lights lit up their sticks, nothing else seemed to happen.

  “Thirty seconds!”

  “What the hell are they doing?” Shanna demanded, her pulse racing and her body swaying as the ground beneath her feet gave a brutal tremor. “We need to get inside now!”

  “Subsisto stabilis quod validus!”

  “Protecting the fort and the portals to Olympus and Below! Hell’s about to open and they can’t risk losing the fort—”

  The ground shifted, and her gaze fell over the short wall and onto the Matanzas Bay, she watched the water bubble, watched a palm tree splinter and fall.

  “Subsisto stabilis quod validus!”

  It was impossible to keep a steady stance, and Shanna clawed the small crevices in the coquina wall, looking for support. But it was like being on a violent carnival ride, and she wanted the hell off!

  “Let us in!” she screamed.

  But her pleas were lost as a loud, inhuman growl filled the air, and fire lit up the sky. On the other side of the bay, buildings folded in on themselves right before her eyes.

  And as she felt Zach lift her into his arms, the unstable ground beneath her feet nearly toppled her over the bridge. She watched in horror as the streets of St. Augustine were lit up with fire.

  It was done. Hell had fully opened.

  Chapter Twelve

  Midnight

  The Fall . . .

  It wouldn’t take long before the archers’ arrows were no longer able to keep up with the influx of bodies pressing down on them. Hell was officially open, and bodies were swimming across the bay to attack as hundreds spilled from the cavities created beneath the crumbled buildings behind them.

  On the walls of the fort, Ares and several dozen of his soldiers leaped down into the dry mote surrounding the area. He looked magnificent, his army intimidating as hell. But they were outnumbered ten to one.

  “What is he doing?” Shanna screamed. “We need him here. He can stop all this!”

  “No,” Zach said. “He can lead the fight. That’s where his power is. If he gets in trouble, he can port out, but right now, he’s offering us one last line of defense so as many humans as possible can get inside.”

  “Is the spell ready, then? We can go inside and they can make sure we’re all human?”

  What if they got inside only to be murdered because they’d let the wrong sort in?

  Zach pointed at the wall above the entrance where the Witches who’d been chanting earlier now stood, their intense concentration focused on the entry. “Looks like it. If they succeeded, they’ll be able to warn against any intruders as they pass through.”

  Well that was all fine and dandy, but the fort was going to get overrun unless someone came up with a way to stave off the enemy for a few minutes, giving the guards a chance to finish lowering the drawbridge to let them inside in the first place.

  An idea niggled her mind. Reaching into her pocket, Shanna pulled out one of the shotgun shells. As the crank began turning again, she shoved her way around Zach, acting on her barely-formed plan before sanity could talk her into staying huddled behind him.

  Sprinting to the Ravelin, she ignored Zach’s yells for her, dodged his clawing hands as he tried to keep her at his side.

  “Give me your shirt!” she screamed, jogging up the steps as he followed.

  “What? Get back to the fort, Shanna. Now!”

  “Give me your fucking shirt!”

  Instead of waiting for him to obey, she gripped the V below his throat and yanked, ripping the fabric down the middle and off his body. She dropped the fabric to the ground and fumbled to set the shotgun shells in the middle of the cloth. Turning, she looked for something she could use as shrapnel. Spotting a quiver, she yelled at Zach—who stood screaming above her, his words unheard—as she concentrated, thought, planned . . .

  “Get me that quiver!”

  He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her to her feet. “You’re going to get yourself killed, damn it!”

  “I can help.” Shanna fought against his hold. “There are too many of them, Zach. We need something to slow them down. This will give us all a chance to get inside.”

  He released her and returned with the quiver. His gaze doubtful, he watched her empty the quiver and stack the arrows on top of the shells.

  “Here!”

  She looked up to find Zach holding another quiver and a handful of lethal-looking knives. Shanna didn’t allow herself to think about what might have happened to the owners of the weapons. She placed the items on top of the others, then began rolling the shirt as tightly as she could.

  Shanna looked around, hoping to find some kind of detonation device. Another round of flaming arrows whooshed overhead, and she couldn’t force herself to look away as they avoided the terrified humans to find their targets.

  She faced Zach. “What are they using to light those arrows?”

  Zach grabbed the archer closest to them. “What do you need us to do?”

  “Cover this in whatever you’re using to light your arrows. Then throw it at that mass heading this way so they’ll slow long enough to let the guards l
ower the bridge.” She glanced at Zach. “And a few prayers to your gods that this doesn’t kill anyone human wouldn’t hurt either.”

  The archer turned to retrieve a container of foul-smelling goop. He covered the bundle, then slotted an arrow. He nodded at Shanna. “Find shelter with the others.”

  Like hell. As if sensing her determination to stay at his side, Zach eased her behind him. “Let’s do this,” he said.

  When the archer drew back on his bow, and the tip of the arrow sparked to life, Zach took two steps and tossed the parcel into the air. He didn’t wait for the arrow to fly; he grabbed Shanna’s hand and began running toward the drawbridge. The clank of it settling in place was instantly followed by the pop-pop-pop of shotgun shells igniting as a burst of fiery light filled the sky.

  Zach grabbed her around the waist, lifted her off the ground, and carried her inside. Only a dozen or so people had made it in before the barrier began to rise again. The anguished cries of humans pleading for entrance filled her ears, as others were once again locked outside with the monsters.

  “Open the damned gate!” she screamed.

  “Shanna!” Zach grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her away from the guards glowering down at her. “They’re going to help as many as they can, but if they open that gate again, it won’t just be the innocent they let inside. The safety of the fort will be breached!”

  “Already has been, asshat.”

  Zach turned at the sound of the faintly familiar voice and inwardly groaned when he saw the leather-clad Vampyre/Lychen Half-Breed approaching him. Kyana Aslan. She pointed at the walls around them.

  “They’re everywhere.” She moved her pointing finger to the plaza courtyard where bodies lay still and covered in blood. “Already killed several that made it in the last time those gates were opened. So if you were hoping your girlfriend would be safe here, you might want to rethink that—”

  “Lychen have passed through!” Kyana’s rant was cut off by the shrill warning from the Witches.