Title: Thirty Pieces of Silver
Author: WhyIsARavenLikeAWritingDesk
Fandom: Priest, 2011
Characters: Black Hat/OC
Rating: T – M
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I mean, really. You think people would figure this out.
Summary: Continuation of 'Judas'. Eden's transformation, and her life afterwards.
Eden shuddered and convulsed on the bed. Her lungs burned and it felt like some creature was trying to claw its way out of her throat. Her joints felt as if lightning danced across them and her bones rattled as if thunder boomed. Her eyes watered and through the pain Eden could feel the tears run down her face. The softest touch passed over her face, wiping away the tears. Eden opened her eyes, even that action pained her, and stared up into the yellow-orange eyes of her lover.
"Michael," she whispered.
"Not much longer," he promised, brushing her sweat slicked hair from her face. "Not much longer and you'll never feel pain like this again."
"Michael," she reached out for him.
He took her hand in his and whispered, lips moving over the shell of her ear, "When this is over, you'll be mine again. My mate, my queen. Mine."
"Yours," she agreed as another convulsion racked through her body.
Eden grasped his wrist, unwilling to let him go, to let him leave, and Michael settled next to her on the bed. The mattress gave way to his mass and he gathered Eden in his arms, holding her to his chest and feeling her heartbeat die. Eden felt him growl (she really wanted to say purr) deep in his chest and it echoed through her bones. She 'hmm'ed, pushing the pain to the back of her mind. Michael nuzzled his mate scraped his fangs over the delicate, pale skin of her left shoulder.
"Sleep, lover," he whispered. "And when you wake, you'll be mine."
Eden listened to Michael purr seductively in her ear and let herself be consumed by the darkness.
The redhead woke to unfamiliar surroundings. The room was large and grand but it was not the place Michael brought her after receiving the Queen's blood. Eden sat up slowly, taking stock of her body. Lightning coursed through her veins, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. It was almost exhilarating. Everything seemed to be in working order, well, with the exception of her heart. Eden stood and as the sheets covering her fell away they revealed a pale body hard with hidden strength and soft with curves. She still had her scars, but they were the same color as her skin. The only reason she knew they were still there was because they glimmered in the light. Eden spotted a mirror on one wall and abandoned the bed to approach it. The woman in the mirror didn't look anything like she remembered.
Her hair was still the same auburn-red color, though it shone with a new vibrance. The blue-purple discoloration under her eyes was gone. There wasn't a single blemish on her face. He body as a whole was fuller; you could no longer see her ribs through her skin. Her eyes, though, her eyes were no longer that blue-hazel color. They were yellow. Bright, intelligent, animalistic. They sat against her pale skin and shone with all the grace and patience of a predator.
Eden closed her eyes and listened. She could tell she was on the top floor of a building; she could hear only the winds above her and below her she could feel the vibrations of people through her feet. Cut her sense that struck her to the core was her sense of smell. And she smelled something delicious. The smell was warm and inviting and made her oh, so hungry. Eden heard footsteps outside the door on the opposite side of the room and her eyes snapped open, new instincts screaming at her to attack and feed. She held herself still and watched the door in the mirror.
It crept open without a sound and Eden's new yellow eyes met her lover's, mate her mind whispered, yellow-orange yes. She watched Michael through the mirror; he hung his hat and coat on the coat rack by the door, eyes never leaving her. Eden turned to face him as he crossed the room towards her. Michael stopped close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek but far enough so that they weren't touching. Eden made the first move to touch him. Her fingertips brushed his cheek and she shuddered at the erotic feeling of electricity racing through her body. Michael's hands met her hips and his fingers ghosted over her waist and stroked her ribs. Eden leaned into his touch, seeking some kind of warmth from him. She was surprised when she found it; when she had been human, Michael had been icy cold.
Her lover took a step forward, forcing Eden to back up into the mirror. He held her there and lowered his face to her neck, licking a strip over her no-longer-beating pulse point. Eden shivered at the sensation and pulled him closer. On pure instinct, Eden lunged forward and sank her new fangs into Michael's neck. A wonderful, blissful feeling flooded into her mouth and quieted the voice in the back of her head. She latched on, trying to draw more of that sweetness into her, tongue lavishing the wound. She almost broke the mirror behind her when she realized what she was doing. She tore herself away, gashing the bleeding wound open more, and tried to back away from her lover. Michael held her to his body, growl ripping itself from his throat.
"I'm sorry," she whispered frightfully. "I'm so sorry, Michael."
"No need to be sorry," he purred. "Expected it, was prepared."
"I'm sorry," she whispered again.
Michael's eyes were glazed over and his tongue leapt out to wet his lips occasionally. Blood still sluggishly pulsed from his neck, which Eden thought was odd considering they had no heartbeat, and was beginning to stain his white shirt. Eden trailed her fingers through it, spreading the blood around further. Michael growled louder and nipped at her hand. Eden moved faster that she was used to and accidentally smeared some of Michael's blood over her collarbone. He leaned towards her and pressed his mouth over the blood, sucking it off her pale skin. Eden's head fell back into the mirror and she felt a purr tremble through her own body.
"Mine," Michael claimed. "My mate, my queen, my Eden."
"Yours," Eden agreed. "All yours."
Michael fitted one of his arms under her bottom and picked her up. Eden wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her over to the bed. Michael pressed her into the mattress and hovered over her, taking in his newly-made-vampire lover. Eden watched him careful before she asked,
"Mine?"
Michael was silent for a long time, long enough that Eden flinched in rejection and turned her face away. She froze when she felt Michael's fangs scrape over the tender flesh of her throat.
"Yours," Michael agreed, lips brushing her ear.
"Where are we?" Eden asked after a long silence.
Michael lay behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist, bare chest pressed to her back.
"Genesis City," Michael said.
Eden blinked. "We've overtaken the capitol?"
"You had doubt?" Michael asked.
"Well, no. I guess I'm just surprised that we moved so quickly."
"Lover," he purred, "you've been asleep for nine days."
"What?" she asked, sitting up to look at him.
"The transformation takes its toll on the body. You had to heal, change."
"What's happened while I was asleep?"
"We overtook the city easy," he said. "Just like before the end of the war. Without the Priests humans have practically no defense or protection."
"What about Gabriel? Or Ester?" she asked.
"No one has been allowed in or out of the city and they've mounted no attacks. We've had no word of them," he said.
"That's odd," Eden said. "What about the population? How are they taking things?"
"They resisted at first, but once we conquered the church and captured Monsignor Orelas, there wasn't much they could do."
Eden paused.
"Do you still have Monsignor Orelas alive?" she asked slyly.
"I thought you might have a few, choice, words for the Father," Michael grinned. "He's visiting a few of my associates in the tunnels."
Eden leaned down and kissed her lover.
"I love you," she said sincerely. "Now where are my clothes?"
Dressed in a pair of leather pants and one of Michael's button downs, Eden followed his through the hallways, wondering at the strange blue eyed people that stopped to bow in the hallway.
"Who are they?" Eden asked when the hallway was clear.
"Familiars," Michael grumbled. "They're the ones who have given themselves willingly, in hopes that one day I'll make them one of us."
"How many of us are there?" she wondered out loud.
Michael whirled around and pressed her into the wall.
"There's you and me," he whispered hungrily. He caught her mouth in a soul devouring kiss. "Only us."
Eden grinned. They continued down the hall, Eden's bare feet making soft pitter-patter noises. They stopped in front of an elevator and waited for the metal box to arrive. When it did and the doors slid open, a small, bald, blue-eyed man slunk into the corner, cowering from Michael's gaze.
"I thought I told you not to bother me, Joseph," Michael growled.
"Y-you did, Master. B-b-but there i-is a man h-here t-to see y-y-you," the familiar stuttered out.
"And who is so important that you feel the need to disobey my orders?" Michael growled as the doors hissed closed.
Eden watched in interest.
"A P-priest, M-master."
Michael growled louder and the familiar tried to shrink further into the corner of the elevator. Eden placed a hand on Michael's forearm. She whispered softly enough for the familiar to miss what she said,
"Calm, lover. Mate. No need to kill the messenger. Yet, anyway."
Michael's growl softened to a purr and he turned back to the disobedient familiar.
"I'll see him. Go down to the tunnels and give Monsignor Orelas a bit of food. I want him awake when we visit him later."
"Yes, M-master," he whimpered.
Eden kept her hand on Michael's arm, enjoying the feel of his skin under her hands. Though the ride was uncomfortable, it was short and soon the human vampires were leaving the container. The hallway they stepped into was plain, which surprised Eden somewhat, and rather short. It seemed to lead to several rooms. She followed Michael to the last door on the left and stood behind him when he opened the door. Eden felt Michael's growl even though she wasn't touching him.
"Michael," a familiar voice said.
Eden peeked over her shoulder to look at Gabriel.
"How did you get into the city, Gabriel?" Michael growled.
"Does that matter?" the priest asked. "I'm unarmed."
"Which is foolish of you," Michael snapped.
"Are you going to let me into the room?" Eden asked.
She moved her lover's arm so she could slip under it and into the room. Michael's eyes never left Gabriel, but the priest's eyes came to rest on her. She gazed back steadily as she walked further into the room and took a seat at the low table.
"Hello, Gabriel," she said. "What brings you here?"
His gaze shifted between Michael and Eden.
"Well?" Michael snapped.
"I come to offer a truce," Gabriel said.
"Truce?" Michael snorted. "A Priest making a truce with vampires?"
'"Calm, lover," Eden said soothingly. "Maybe our old comrade has finally grown a brain."
"So speak," Michael said.
"We don't have the resources or the manpower," Gabriel said, "to unseat you from your, position. Likewise while we'd probably be able to hinder your plans, you'd rather not have us as a nuisance."
"Get to your point," Michael growled, yellow eyes flashing.
"It's a simple deal," the priest said. "You leave us alone; we leave you alone. You keep to the cities and we keep to the western towns."
"Define 'we'," Eden said. When both men looked at her, she shrugged. "It never hurt anyone to be precise."
"Myself," Gabriel said, "Ester, Hicks, Lucy. The entire populations of the western towns have agreed to this."
"Sounds like you work fast," Eden commented.
"Why do you think I would agree to a truce when I could just destroy you instead?"
Eden and Michael stood in the small conference room alone. Michael was pacing, wall to wall, and Eden finally moved to stand in his path.
"Mate," she said. "Lover mine, why are you so nervous? You've been anxious since we left the bedroom."
"I don't know," he growled. "Something about this feels wrong."
She wrapped her arms around his waist and began to purr to try and soothe him. Michael's own arms wrapped around her, but he didn't relax.
"You've just made a truce with the remaining human population. If something goes wrong, as you feel it will, then no one can deny you the right to wipe them from the earth. Besides, familiars don't last forever, and what will we do when the food supply is gone? Let them breed."
"You always did have the cooler head," he sighed.
"As cool as my head may be, I don't have your passion, lover."
"You've passion enough for us both," he purred.
"Different passion," she chuckled. "Now, I believe we have a date with a priest."
"I believe you're right."
Eden circled the cage with grace of a predator stalking prey. Michael watched from the corner of the room .The cell was dark and damp and smelled like something foul had died. It took the woman a moment to realize that while the room did stink, the foul stench was fear rolling off the priest in the cage in the center of the room. His robes were soiled from rolling around in his own filth and his skin was clammy. For all he watched Eden circle him, his eyes kept flickering back to the vampire in the corner.
"Why do you watch Michael, Monsignor Orelas?" Eden asked sweetly. "He's not the one you need to worry about."
The man in the cage tried to gulp, but ended up gagging instead. Eden sneered at the man.
"You disgust me," she hissed. "How the mighty have fallen."
"You betrayed your faith," the Father croaked.
"My faith betrayed me!" she snarled.
Monsignor Orelas shrunk back into the cage.
"My faith took everything from me! Took my loves, took my freedom, took my life! But," she said calming down, "my faith did give me one thing. Opportunity. You see, before I left to my little hell in the desert, I was able to access the confessional recordings. Specifically your confessional recordings."
The dirty man paled further under the grime that coated his body.
"That's right, Monsignor Orelas. I know your dirty little secret. I know about the failed experiments, the gene splicing. All in the name of God, you sought a cure for death. A gene of immortality. You even went so far as to cross breed the species. Shame, shame, Orelas. You've been a naughty boy," she giggled. "You know, I even know about the women you took to bed, the occasional man too, all the while claiming to 'purify' them with a ritual that only you were allowed to witness. Who knew rape could be so cleansing."
A growl tore its way out of Michael's throat, but he stayed where he was.
"Oh dear," Eden said. "It seems my lover didn't know about the last bit. You know, if there's one thing Michael hates more than the church it's hypocrisy within the church."
Michael began to circle the cage as well, going opposite of Eden so that they passed each other as they stalked. The Monsignor looked as if was having a seizure, snapping his head back and forth in an attempt to watch both predators at once.
"W-what are you going to do with me?" Orelas asked fearfully.
"Do with you?" Eden asked innocently. "Whatever do you mean? We're not going to do anything to you."
"The Queen on the other hand," Michael said devilishly, "she always enjoys a new taste. She love to play with her food, though."
"Sometimes she likes to keep her playthings," Eden grinned. "If they're interesting enough."
Monsignor Orelas whimpered.
"Enjoy your new life, Father."
