AN: I've run into some bad writer's block on Kiss to Savor, so to help the plot bunnies breed I'm making a small diversion. This is set just before the tattoo parlor scene in Claimed by Shadow, and is completely AU from that point. Yes, it's a sex-or-die situation, which I think are pretty cheesy, but I've had this scene in my head for a while and figured I should just get it out before it damages something. I'm planning on only about three chapters. This is rated M for a reason, so if you're not interested in reading about hot, sweaty Prtikin/Cassie sex (in other words, if you're a crazy mutant), the "back" button is located in the upper left-hand corner of your screen.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I am not Karen Chance. This is too bad, because not only would I kill to write like her, I would also kill to have her paycheck. An unfortunate side-affect of all this is that I don't own any of her characters, settings, etc. They belong to her, and I'm not making any money from this.

Losing It

They were waiting for us when we came out of the tunnel. A shiny black BMW gleamed in the parking lot, one door ajar. I could just hear the plaintive open-door alarm over the rush of nearby traffic. A flashy red convertible was parked nearby, a fresh-looking human-shaped dent in its side and a small bunch of keys with a Dante's key chain lying on the ground nearby. Other than the cars and the mages, the parking lot was empty; a rusting metal-sided warehouse faced a cracked sidewalk.

I only noticed these details later because the instant I left the tunnel something hit me like a sledgehammer before my eyes could adjust to the bright Las Vegas sunlight. I went flying back into Pritkin, and we fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs. He struggled out from under me, swearing creatively, while I tried to remember how to breathe.

I could hear shouts and explosions, and when I finally managed to raise my head I saw ten men in bulky coats surrounding us. Pritkin stood protectively over me, his shields a pale blue dome surrounding us. I didn't have a lot of experience with mages, but I was pretty sure his shields weren't as strong as they had been this morning. The fight at the casino had taken a lot out of him, and ten against two were pretty bad odds.

"Can you stand?" Pritkin asked tersely.

One of the mages threw a spell that exploded against Pritkin's shield in a shower of sparks. Pritkin's shields held, but I could still feel the power of the spell. It wasn't as strong as anything the mages had been casting at Dante's, but it felt greasy and dirty. Dark mages. Great.

I pushed experimentally at the gritty pavement and managed to level myself onto all fours. The world swam around me and I stopped, waiting for it to hold still. Pritkin offered me a calloused hand and I took it gratefully. Once I was all the way up I held onto his shoulder to make sure I didn't fall back down again.

One of the mages giggled. "This is the Pythia?" he gave a pig-like snort, sounding not entirely sane. "She's just a little baby, ain't even figured how to walk yet."

Another man, with a nasty scar that puckered the left side of his face, leered at me. "You ever see tits like those on a baby? She's old enough to fuck—or be fucked."

A ripple of cruel laughter spread through the circle. I tried to keep the disgust off my face, but didn't have much success.

A third mage, the only woman, saw my expression and sneered at the man with the scar. "I don't think likes you, Bob. Must not be pretty enough for her."

He sneered back. "If she'll spread her legs for vamp, she'll spread her legs for anyone."

A dark mage called Bob. The ludicrousness of it helped me center myself, and the rage at the what they were saying about me helped me focus. I breathed in and out a few times to blow away the last of whatever spell they had hit me with.

"I can run," I murmured into Pritkin's ear.

He gave a tiny nod, not taking his eyes off the circle of mages. "Can you do what you did before? Take us somewhere else?"

I kicked myself for not thinking of it earlier. I may have been trying to avoid using the Pythia's power, but this was definitely an emergency. I reached for the power, pushing into that blind, falling darkness... and nothing happened.

I closed my eyes in despair. "No," I whispered back.

His lips thinned, but he didn't comment. "We'll make for the warehouse; it'll give us a little bit of cover. Do you have a gun?" When I nodded he said, "Good. Wait until they drop their shields to attack before firing, and don't shoot inside my shields. Got it?"

I nodded again.

We ran. The mages followed, shouting and hurling spells that exploded harmlessly against Pritkin's shields. A sturdy-looking padlock secured the door, but Pritkin blasted it off with a muttered word. He grabbed my arm and threw me inside, slamming the door behind him.

"That's not going to keep them out!" I was proud of how steady my voice was, even if it was a little higher than usual.

"I know that," Pritkin snarled back. He crouched and traced a few indecipherable symbols in the dust, muttering under his breath. A fireball smashed against the door, sending a wave of fire and splinters cascading over his shields. I was far enough back to avoid most of it, but bits of flaming wood still peppered my skin. He grabbed me and pulled me to the side, so we weren't directly in front of the ruined door.

Someone jumped through the doorway. I had my gun out and ready, but before I could even aim the markings Pritkin had made exploded with blue-white light. The mage screamed and was blown back out of the building, trailing white-hot tendrils of electricity. Screams and crackling sounds and the horrible smell of burnt flesh told me that the electrocuted mage had crashed into another.

I heard breaking glass overhead and looked up in time to see the woman burst through one of the high, wide windows. I had a second to wonder how she'd gotten up there before she crashed to the ground. Her shields cushioned the fall, and she was up on her feet in a second, a gun in one hand and a little orb in the other. Another mage darted through the doorway, and Pritkin dropped his shields to throw a spell at him. The woman raised her gun.

She didn't considered a skinny blonde clairvoyant to be a threat, so she hadn't even looked at me. Her gave fixed on Pritkin's back, she didn't even notice as I lifted my gun and shot her in the chest.

Red blossomed across her shirt. She stared at me in shock, her gun falling from her hand. She had blue eyes, I noticed, like mine only a little darker. She tried to heft the little sphere and I shot her again. The life went out of her blue eyes and she fell to the floor, staring sightlessly up at the dirty ceiling.

I only noticed the sphere move because I was staring down at her body, transfixed by what I had done. The little sphere skittered across the cement floor like someone had pushed it. For a moment I thought Billy had moved it, but I couldn't see him anywhere. This worried me for a brief second, before I realized I had other things to worry about. Two mages had managed to make it into the building, and one of them had grabbed the ball with a spell. He snatched it off the ground and threw it at me.

I dodged and the ball hit the wall behind me. It didn't explode, but I felt a wave of power wash over me. Suddenly I was falling, and I couldn't stop myself. As I went down, I saw Pritkin stagger, as if the ground had suddenly tilted under him. Then I was lying on the cold cement with the dead woman's blood seeping into my clothes, and everything went dark.