The Overture of Fear & Passion (The Daemonica Symphony Series Book 1) Page 17

  “I… well, that is, I think she might be feeling a little sensitive at the moment and I think it would be best if we were partnered so that she doesn’t have to feel so, uh... protective of her thoughts at the moment.” He knew he was rambling but hoped Elijah got his meaning.

  He spared him a glance, his attention making Niko feel like the thorn in the lion’s paw.

  “You do realise that the entire point of these classes is to teach you the ability to block others from mental intrusion. You are doing Miss Vassilios a disservice by not allowing her to use this as a learning opportunity.”

  Niko nodded, being unable to help but agree with him.

  “However, in light of the fact that the two of you share a connection, it might be worthwhile for you both to study that link; to test its boundaries, measure its strength and determine whether or not it can be blocked.”

  Elijah looked up, appearing to ponder his own thoughts for a moment. He lowered his eyes again, his hands stilling over the device as he watched it, waiting for something to happen.

  “I will allow your request Mr Dmitriyev.” He said, with a triumphant expression as the device before him admitted defeat and complied with his demands, its cogs beginning to slowly turn.

  Other members of the class had started to arrive, and Elijah nodded in their direction.

  “Take your seat Mr Dmitriyev.” He instructed before moving leisurely to the doorway to greet the arriving students.

  Niko made himself comfortable, choosing to sit in Juliet’s usual spot while trying not to be offended by the pale pink cushion. She appeared only a moment later, her usually colourful clothing replaced by a black sweater and dark jeans. A grey beanie covered most of her loosely braided hair. Her head hung low and her arms were crossed in front on her. She didn’t seem to notice Elijah and appeared startled when he placed a hand on her arm to gain her attention. Niko watched as they exchanged a few words before she looked past Elijah and locked eyes with Niko. She did not look happy.

  Niko shuffled in place, looking away as Juliet approached and sat next to him. The air seemed to thicken with electricity as she broadcast her feelings loud and clear through the connection between them.

  “How are you?” He asked softly. He noticed dark circles under her eyes and her complexion was paler than usual. Combined with the severity of her frown, Niko was more than a little bit concerned.

  Juliet breathed heavily through her nostrils, while massaging her temples. She shook her head, avoiding an answer and looked away. Focussing her attention on Elijah who was getting the class started.

  “Due to recent events, we are going to be trying something a little bit different today.” He said, after his usual welcome. He pressed a button on the automaton and once again the cogs began to turn, beginning a gentle humming sound that slowly formed a rhythmic melody.

  “What you’re hearing is a gamma wave. The frequency is tuned to forty hertz which is an optimal frequency for cognition. Gamma waves enable links to form between information from different parts of the brain. For those of us who are practised in the art of telepathy, the gamma waves act as a conduit through which thoughts can be transmitted, think of them as similar to a WIFI signal booster.”

  Elijah took a seat at the front of the room, crossing his legs and placing his palms upwards.

  “I’d like you all to close your eyes and allow your minds to drift.” He said as he began coaching them into a meditative state. Niko continued to breathe deeply, following Elijah’s instructions and found himself relaxing quite quickly, despite his prior tension. Without being conscious of how it had even happened, he was suddenly aware of a complete detachment from his body. He could still hear everything Elijah was saying, but he was removed from all physical sensations. In spite of the disconnection, he could still feel a link to Juliet.

  The link reminded him of delicate strings, each connected to a specific thought or feeling. At first, Niko wasn’t sure which string he needed to focus on and was hesitant to pluck the wrong one, potentially trespassing on a thought or memory that would betray Juliet’s privacy. He tried to focus his mind on thoughts of himself only, hoping that he could use himself as a kind of magnet, attracting only the relevant strings to the surface. He was surprised to find that it worked, and several strings appeared to become solid, enabling them to be plucked more easily from the rest.

  He gave one a gentle psychic tug and the memory of their meeting at sunrise came to the surface. He could even feel Juliet’s emotions through the connection. There was attraction, confusion and frustration. He sensed her desire to know more but resistance as well. He left the memory smoothly, letting go as easily as if he were opening or closing his eyes.

  He reached for another thread, one that felt newer, as if the memory were more recent. He was surprised to not find himself in the memory at all, instead observing a conversation between Juliet and Ash. Niko observed the conversation, feeling concerned by Ash’s words.

  “It has been known for Daemonica to die when they are unable to be sustained by their element.” Niko felt Juliet’s distress as acutely as if it were his own. He felt her guilt over causing pain to William and her fear over the possibility of causing that kind of pain to anyone else.

  Niko’s head spun as Ash explained how Niko could be used to help sustain Juliet. He felt Juliet’s thoughts clashing within her mind and he felt her desire for him battle against her need to protect herself from a romantic connection that could end badly. He felt her fear of hurting others clash with the fear of her own suffering and he couldn’t tell which fear won the battle.

  He was forcefully pushed out of Juliet’s mind so thoroughly that he would have fallen backwards if he weren’t sitting down. Juliet was staring at him, her cheeks pink with a beautiful rage. Niko reached out to take her hand, but she pulled away and stood, silently leaving the room.

  No one else even seemed to notice.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The middle of September arrived with small autumnal gestures. The landscape turning shades of bronze, gold and copper as the days began to grow shorter. Juliet had always loved the season; throughout her childhood her parents had made it a magical time. They would take the entire month of her birthday off, dropping whatever responsibilities they had, and they would travel to wherever the whim would take them.

  When Juliet had become old enough, she was given the responsibility of choosing their destination and she would usually decide on somewhere colder than her parents would expect, somewhere she could watch the colours change.

  She’d spent time in Boston and New York, Moscow, and Rome before finally, at the age of thirteen, she’d fallen in love with Paris. It wasn’t long after that Juliet had convinced her parents to put down roots there so that she could focus on her musical career.

  Juliet welcomed the season with mixed feelings; her love of Autumn had continued on well after her move to Paris and even the declining health of her mother so soon after her birthday hadn’t managed to diminish the affection she felt for the season, but it had tempered her feelings towards celebrating her birthday.

  That last birthday together had been bittersweet. They had known the end was coming, its heavy presence loomed over her day like a miasma of pending grief. A year later she’d spent the night trying to drown her sorrows in the bar where she had met Beatriz.

  Juliet was admiring the changing hues of the castle’s grounds as she finished her usual morning run. Stretching her still warm muscles as she leaned against the fence by the meadow, she found herself thinking over everything that had changed in her life over the past two years as well as the more recent developments.

  Juliet hadn’t spoken to Niko in nearly two weeks. She’d been determined to avoid him by any means necessary even making sure that she arrived at any of their shared classes with someone else, partnering herself off so that she wouldn’t be paired with him again.

  She focussed all of her energy during mental agility classes on keeping her shield
up. Even when she was supposed to be focussing on penetrating her partner’s defences, she would simply focus on her own instead. She noticed the doctor’s frustration, but he didn’t say anything, for which she was grateful.

  She’d attended her physical defence class for the first time and was shocked by the barbarity of it. By her third class she was able to maintain her shield and block a punch at the same time, but she’d been dealt a split lip and black eye that stung like a bitch as the price of protecting her shield more than her face. She was determined to get better; she swore she could feel Niko physically recoil every time she took a punch, and she didn’t need the distraction. She also hated seeing him get injured but was determined to not let it show.

  She had tried to fit in extra practise sessions with Fiona. The Witch was deceptively sneaky and fast, and Juliet wasn’t too happy with her progress; rather than getting better, she seemed to be getting worse. Luckily, Fiona had some mad skills in the healing department and had concocted a cream that managed to heal all of her minor injuries overnight. So, instead of her face looking like she’d had an argument with a meat tenderiser, her face was bruise and blemish free.

  Feeling confident that her muscles were sufficiently cooled down, Juliet began to make her way back to her room. She was halfway up the second flight of stairs when she became overwhelmed by a sudden dizziness. She braced herself against the bannister and took a few deep breaths while she regained her balance before attempting the climb again. She made it only another five steps before she lost her footing again and came down hard on one knee, despite her hold on the railing. She closed her eyes and prayed that it was early enough in the day that no one was around to witness her embarrassing stumble, but her prayer went unanswered and an instant later she heard the sound of boots coming down the stairs towards her and her name called out in a voice that was unmistakeable.

  Juliet swore under her breath as she focussed all of her energy on straightening her legs and pulling herself back up but despite her effort, her limbs refused to obey. She felt his hands come around her smoothly, with a familiarity that belied the little time they had actually known each other.

  She tried to brush him away, but as soon as she moved her arm to push against his chest, the intensity of the vertigo increased and instead of pushing into him, she fell into his arms. She could hear him asking what was wrong, but she couldn’t answer, too nauseous to say a word despite wanting desperately to assure him she was fine, if only to have him leave her alone.

  She felt him lifting her, gently placing a hand around her waist and pulling her arm over his shoulders. She wanted to protest, to insist that she could stand on her own. Instead, everything went white as she lost consciousness.

  THE SOFT COMFORT of a warm bed enveloped Juliet, driving away the nagging feeling in the back on her mind that there was something she needed to be doing. She smelled the familiar scent of her mother; roses, linen and Shalimar and she realised that she was wrapped in her mother’s warm embrace.

  She heard the pitter patter of rain against a window and she snuggled deeper into the bed, fending off the cold. She tucked herself into her mother’s side, wriggling her face out from underneath the feather duvet.

  Once free, she looked up to her mother’s face, eager to see her smile. Instead, unseeing eyes stared blankly at the ceiling above, her mouth was slack, open slightly and her usual peaches and cream complexion was pallid and grey.

  “Momie?” Juliet whispered, her childlike voice barely audible over the clattering of the rain.

  She shook her mother’s lifeless body, terror turning the blood in her veins to ice.

  “Momie!” She cried, shaking harder.

  She began crying, trying desperately to think of a way to bring her mother back to life, knowing it was too late to say goodbye. She sobbed as she looked at her mother’s lifeless face, her heart tearing in two where the scar hadn’t even begun to heal.

  As her tears began to dry up, she sniffled and took her mother’s hand in hers, surprised at its warmth.

  Wakefulness began to pull at her mind, she slowly came to realisation that she was dreaming and in the same instant, her mother turned her head and whispered; “He’s coming for you.”

  Before Juliet could respond, she was awake and back in her room at Livingstone, with a concerned Fiona and Niko staring down at her.

  The dream began to slip away as quickly as sand through her fingers. She tried to hold on to her mother’s words, wondering who she referred to. She had been as terrified by her words as the threat they indicated. But, as she looked up at the faces of Niko and Fiona, a fierce headache took hold that had Juliet turning onto her side with a groan.

  Fiona jumped up and returned with a glass of water. Juliet sat up and sipped it slowly, focussing her attention on the glass as a means of avoiding eye contact with Niko. She’d known as soon as she had woken that her shield had dropped, and she had no idea if he had taken the opportunity to have a snoop inside her mind again.

  Fiona was the first to break the silence.

  “What ‘appened, Juliet? Niko said ‘e found you just before you fainted?” She was wringing her hands as she stood over her.

  Juliet couldn’t help but smile at Fiona’s tendency to fret like a mother duck. She chanced a sidelong peak in Niko’s direction and was surprised to see him no longer looking her way. Turning to look more closely, she noticed his hands were clenched, his fingers digging into the bedding beneath them as the muscles in his biceps and forearms strained and bulged with clearly restrained rage.

  Juliet was instantly concerned, forgetting her earlier anger with him and all thoughts of wanting to avoid him, she reached out to place her hand on his.

  He flinched at her touch and turned his head in her direction. The corner of his mouth turning upwards in a half smile.

  “You know, for someone who says you're not interested, we seem to spend a lot of time on your bed.”

  She was relieved by the lightness of his words, so at odds with his rigid body language. She could tell he was mad but couldn’t figure out why. She was the one who had a reason to be angry. She hated her privacy being invaded and her thoughts were the most private thing about her.

  She began to reach out to him mentally, hoping to find a reason behind his anger. But, as soon as she detected the surface emotions, his shield blocked her out. He stood, crossing his arms in front of his chest, his anger making him seem taller than usual.

  “No Juliet. You don’t get to have it both ways. You can’t block me out for weeks and then help yourself to a sneak peak in my head whenever you feel like it.”

  She blushed in shame at her own hypocrisy.

  “You have the right to your privacy, and I get that, but I’ve got that right too.”

  She nodded at his words and looked down into her lap. Fiona sat down next to her and patted her hand.

  “What ‘appened, Juliet?” She asked again.

  Juliet looked at her concerned face and back at Niko. He seemed calmer now, like he’d remembered he was more concerned than he was angry.

  “I honestly don’t know.” She began to explain.

  “I went for my usual run. I’d gotten tired earlier than usual, so I stopped to stretch and headed back here. But halfway up the stairs I lost all of my energy.” She shook her head, trying to make sense of what had happened.

  “It’s like I just had nothing left, I was completely exhausted. And it came on so suddenly. I can’t explain it.”

  Fiona nodded, but still look confused. Niko’s lips formed a thin line and his eyes narrowed. She could tell he wanted to say something.

  “What, Niko?” She asked.

  He rubbed his eyes before pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. He then looked back up and shook his head.

  “You know what this is.” He accused.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Stop playing dumb, Juliet. You know what’s happening. Or you’re lying to yourself.”<
br />
  Juliet was genuinely perplexed, shaking her head before stuttering a denial.

  ‘“To be deprived of your element entirely could result in you suffering quite severely, both physically and mentally.”’ He imitated Ash’s warning word for word, although his baritone was significantly deeper than Ash’s softer voice.

  “How long has it been going on?” He asked, looking furious again.

  Juliet failed to answer and was surprised when Fiona piped in.

  “At least a week now.” She said.

  Juliet looked at her, her forehead creasing in confusion.

  Fiona looked apologetic but turned to Niko to explain as if Juliet wasn’t there.

  “We’ve been sparrin’, y’know, practicing for defence class, an’ she’s been gettin' worse instead o’ better. There’s no way a Witch should be able to land a blow on a Demon. And...”

  She bit her lip before continuing, “I’ve been ‘oldin’ back.”

  Juliet tried to defend herself. “I’ve been holding back too.” She lied.

  “Maybe, I’m just not very physically fit at the moment. Maybe I have the flu or something. Like a Demon version of the flu?” She looked from Fiona to Niko, knowing how stupid she sounded.

  Fiona frowned, “’er shield is weaker now too, it seems to be drainin’ more of ‘er energy to maintain it all th’ time.”

  Niko nodded, “I’ve noticed that as well.”

  Juliet must have made a face because Niko cut her off before she could say anything.

  “I haven’t been trying to eavesdrop Juliet, just checking in to make sure you’re O.K.”

  She pursed her lips, still annoyed but since clearly, she was not O.K…

  “There’s one other ‘tin.” Fiona said, “I know I’m not some music smarty or anythin’, but I think, she’s been messin’ up some of ‘er music y’know, like missin’ a beat ‘ere and there or somethin’.” She said.

  Juliet was worried now. She too had noticed she’d been off lately. It was minor, a missed chord or being out of time just slightly. She hadn’t thought anyone else would have the ear to notice. She’d underestimated Fiona.