A/N: With Hunt the Moon coming out in June, I've come down with a big case of "Cassie and Pritkin fever." (Nothing against you Mircea fans, Pritkin's just the guy for me, er, Cassie.) I have a handful of half finished Cassie and Pritkin fan fiction that I find myself playing with again to help me get through the agonizing wait until HtM is available. This is one of those short pieces - nothing special, just a little fun. Constructive criticism welcome.

Thanks to Karen Chance for letting me borrow her wonderful characters and world. She is their rightful owner; I'm just playing.

Page 125, Curse the Dawn

"Pritkin!" The high, clear voice came from behind him.

"Bloody hell." John Pritkin, bad-ass war mage for the Silver Circle, slayer of demons, defender of the Pythia, dropped the shoulders of the unconscious man he was dragging and whipped around in time to see a shower of rocks and red dust obscure the cavern behind him. An impenetrable haze blocked even his eyes from seeing the small woman who had called his name.

He couldn't believe Cassie was still here. He should have known better than to trust she would leave when he had told her to go. If she died down here with him, it would be his own damn fault.

"In the car! Everybody in the car!" Caleb's deep voice boomed out as another round of violent tremors shook the stone floor. John was thrown to his knees and pelted with a stinging rain of small rocks.

By the time the worst of the tremors had stopped, he was already climbing to his feet. It had been the strongest quake yet. There couldn't be much time before the entire ceiling collapsed on them. He grabbed McCullough and resumed dragging him in the direction of Caleb's voice. He'd be tempted to leave the worthless mage behind if he hadn't been the one to shoot him in the arse in the first place.

Even with his demon-enhanced vision, he was having trouble seeing through the thick haze of red dust that was everywhere. He was not much more than an arm's length away from Caleb before he could see the hulking shape of the big man standing by a large car.

"Caleb! Why haven't you left yet?"

"Waiting for a delivery. Need a hand with that?" Caleb opened the back door of the car and hoisted the man John had been dragging onto the backseat. Tremaine was already inside and helped pull the body further into the car.

John leaned in and saw Cassie's vampire behind the wheel but no sign of Cassie. He turned back to Caleb.

"Where is Miss Palmer?"

"Last time I saw her was before that last big tremor. She must have shifted out of here."

"Must have?" A cold knot of fear started to twist in John's gut. "What do you mean, must have? Did she tell you she was leaving?"

Caleb hesitated before answering. "Well, no. But earlier she said she could shift out anytime. Said she was her own life raft and didn't need-"

"Cassie!" John shouted into the red gloom. "Cassie! Are you all right?"

Nothing. The only sound he heard was the clatter of rocks hitting the floor and the distant rumbling of another quake.

"See? She shifted. Now let's get out of here before this level collapses, too!"

John's voice was grim. "She wouldn't just leave."

The dust and fumes were too fucking thick to see in the dim light of the cavern. He clamped down on a building wave of panic and forced himself to think.

Cassie wouldn't leave without telling someone. Hell, if she could still shift, she would have taken someone with her. No. She had to be here. "Cassie!"

"Cassie!" Caleb's deep voice called from the other direction.

Echoes were the only response.

She would have been yelling at him by now if she could. He had to accept what that meant. She wasn't answering because she couldn't. That panic wave came crashing over him.

"Fan out," he barked. "Standard search grid."

"Yes, sir." Tremaine was out of the car. Another car door slammed and the vampire joined the search.

John concentrated and activated the tracker charm he had placed on her. Relief rushed over him as he felt the strong feedback from the charm. She was close. He whipped around with a curse ready for the small blonde woman who had become his focus. His... mission, he corrected himself.

The damn dust was hiding her. He slowed when he stubbed his toe on a boulder coated in the dust. It was as large as she was. He could have just as easily kicked her. John ignored the flash of images in his head of Cassie lying crushed underneath a similar rock.

"Over here!" The vampire's heightened senses had let him get to her first. "She is alive, but unconscious."

And then, through the cloud of dust, he saw her lying on the ground with the vampire crouched beside her.

He dropped to his knees at her side and felt for a pulse. "Cassie! Are you all right?" Her pulse was strong, but she wasn't responding. His chest tightened as a backwash of fear rolled over him. He needed her to be OK.

Another round of tremors shook the floor.

He threw his body over her motionless form, sheltering her from the small shower of rocks that stung his back. They had to leave now. He would have to risk moving her without knowing the extent of her injuries.

"Back to the car! Now!"

He carefully picked her up and clenched his teeth as her head rolled against his shoulder. She was so damn small in his arms. Always he was worried about accidentally hurting her, but now, unconscious and helpless, her fragility terrified him.

From somewhere the thought that he might lose her came to him. It stopped his breath and brought ice to his chest.

Damn it! Why couldn't she have listened to him just this once and left when he had told her to go?

Because she couldn't. The truth burned across him. She had lied to him. She had held nothing back when rescuing the prisoners, even if it meant she didn't have enough power left to shift herself to safety. He felt his anger rise. Good. He fed it. It helped block the thought of her disappearing from his life. He had lost too many friends and partners and knew the folly of letting someone get too close. Especially an idiot who had no thought for her own safety.

He looked down at Cassie's still face, covered in dust and blood. He would have given anything, done anything for her blue eyes to be glaring at him, for her to be yelling about something. In that moment, he faced his own truth. She mattered. Not just to the magical community, but to him.

His anger roared back, this time directed at himself. He was such a sodding fool.