Title:
Power
Play
Rating:
R
Fandom:
Criminal
Minds
Universe:
Creatures
of the Night (Part 1)
Pairing:
Morgan/Prentiss;
JJ/Hotch
Genre:
Supernatural/Drama
Summary:
Tensions
are running high when a vampire joins the BAU, but all differences
must be put aside as the team investigate a series of suspicious
werewolf murders. AU.
Author's
Notes: Betaed
by Windy City Dreamer. Some guest beta work from Yellow Smurf.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The rest of the team is taken from the room, and there's nothing Emily can do about it. She vaguely recalls hearing her mother giving orders as to which cells – this place has cells? – they're to be put in, but her head had been ringing too much to notice more than that. Unconsciousness had come quickly after that.
She doesn't know how long it's been. She's on her knees, hands cuffed in front of her. It's intended to be a position of humiliation, but Emily's been in far worse situations to be affected by her mother's attempts at dominance.
'They're all going to die, Emeline.' Her mother's pacing, not a hair out of place. Emily feels a little miffed that she had done that little damage. She knows she can't kill the elder vampire – not without adequate preparation – but it would be nice to see a couple of bruises, maybe some blood.
'Go to hell,' she spits, with as much venom as she can muster. It's not much; she's getting weaker by the second. She needs blood – something which is not in short supply at the castle – but she's sure as hell not going to accept any drinks.
'The psychic will die first. I'll slit her throat, and they'll ravage her like vultures. You can all watch. Do you think Agent Hotchner will cry? She is his whore, after all, isn't she?'
Emily closes her eyes against the anger. She needs to focus on keeping it all locked away. No fear. No anger. No pain.
You're going to die.
Shut up.
Seven hundred years, and she's finally going to kill you.
Shut up!
'I'll kill the wizard next; his blood is poison. I won't let it touch their lips. But you can watch him scream as his insides boil. Your little robot friend…I think we might let him go slowly insane. Hotchner…I'll take care of him myself – his blood is so sweet.' She licks her lips.
'Take her away,' she barks. 'With the 'wolf.'
It's only with the mention of Morgan that Emily realizes that her mother hadn't mentioned what she is going to do to him.
***
He wakes up, and he's chained to the wall. It's not just a cuff around the ankle; he's strung up, arms and legs spread wide. They're coated with silver, and he can feel his flesh slowly burning away. Someone has stripped him to his boxers, and he feels the cold night air coming in through the tiny, barred window.
What had happened?
Sleep.
The vampire bitch had said that, hadn't she? Sleep. He remembers the word as magic, but it doesn't make sense. Vampires don't use sorcerer magic, least of all these vampires.
Blood magic.
It's rare amongst vamps; only really found in the oldest. The most powerful. It makes perfect sense to think that Elizabeth Prentiss is one of those vampires.
He doesn't even want to think about what she has planned for the team.
It's at that point that he realizes he isn't alone.
There's a vampire in the room. Not Emily. Not her mother. It's a male vampire. He smells like blood.
The vamp moves a little closer, stepping into the moonlight that's shining through the window. Morgan can see from looking at his eyes that he's jacked up on human blood. There's a knife in his hand – not silver – which means he isn't going to die just yet.
He tries not to think about the impending pain. Tries to think about something else.
The knife slides into his abdomen, and he can't help but groan in pain. He can feel the blood trickling down already, staining his boxers. It's not a kill wound.
'What the fuck do you want?' he seethes. The vampire ignores him, making another incision – this time a little higher up. This close to the full moon, the wounds should be healing already, but they're not. The blood pumps out slowly, glinting in the low light.
Why is he not healing?
Is it something to do with why he couldn't – can't – shift in here? Is it that blood magic? He hasn't had enough experience with the different types of magic to accurately answer that. He's heard rumors of shifter magic – magic relying on the manipulation of elements – but then there aren't many lycanthropes old enough to use it. The life span is similar to a vampire's, but for some reason they tend not to live as long.
It could be the fact that most vampires are out to kill them. That, and the blatant power inequity. Theoretically speaking, vampires could be blood-frenzied twenty-four seven, while a shifter has his peak just one day out of thirty. All that considered, he'd still rather be a wolf.
Well…all in all, he'd rather be human, but that isn't going to happen any time soon.
***
The cell door opens, and she's dumped unceremoniously to the floor. She hears a laugh, and the footsteps of someone walking past her, but she doesn't look up. The metallic scent of blood – werewolf blood – hits her nostrils with a ferocious intensity.
Morgan.
The door slams shut, but she's isn't paying attention to that. She's paying attention to the half naked man that's chained to the wall, bleeding to death.
She hears a short laugh outside the cell, but ignores it.
She scrambles towards him, and she's not four feet away when it hits her. Blood. It's not just in her nostrils now, it's overpowering every sense. Overpowering every facet of her being.
This is what her mother wants done to Morgan. He isn't going to be killed by a lackey. She wants Emily to kill him.
A flash of red.
A voice, screaming.
Blood.
A man whose life she had destroyed.
She steps forward, shaking. She knows she's not in control of her own actions, and yet she can't stop it. Morgan's conscious – he's looking at her. Looking into her eyes.
She touches his chest, letting the blood slick past her fingers.
Red.
Screaming.
Blood.