The Overture of Fear & Passion (The Daemonica Symphony Series Book 1) Page 8

  She thought and, still wondering where this was going, answered again.

  “I have a terrible sweet tooth.” She offered.

  “Uh-ha, there you go.”

  “What’s your point? Sugar and Cigarettes are hardly in the same league”

  “Oh no? Some say that sugar is more addictive than cocaine.”

  “That’s absurd.”

  “Why don’t we make a bet? I’ll wager that I can give up smoking longer than you can go without candy.”

  She considered his offer.

  “What are the stakes?”

  “I’m not sure. What are you willing to offer me if I win?”

  The flirtatious way his smile tilted to one side again suggested Niko was hoping for something a bit more risqué than what Juliet had in mind.

  “I can offer you something truly unique.” She said slowly, “A very intimate...” She leaned forward, staring into Niko’s eyes, “Personal…” she moved closer and Niko moved in as well, “Private...” She stared at his mouth as the top of his tongue peaked out and licked his upper lip, “Music lesson.” She whispered.

  He blinked slowly once and then again, shaking his head a little. His eyebrows drew together in confusion before he threw his head back and laughed. She loved the way he laughed, it seemed to radiate from his heart and explode out of him.

  “So, it is you.” He said, once regaining control of himself.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I heard you playing of course and when I asked around no one knew who was behind it.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise; she figured others would hear her playing but hadn’t realised that she had become the topic of speculation.

  “I had started to suspect it might be you. That case you were carrying around at the airport kind of fit.” She smiled and shrugged, for once not feeling the need to shy away from her talent.

  “So, you know how valuable a lesson from me would be. What’s in it for me?” She asked.

  “What will you offer me in exchange for me beating you?”

  “Oh, so confident. O.K, O.K...” He pursed his lips for a moment before replying.

  “So, what if I told you I could offer you a genuine original copy of Beethoven’s forty-ninth opus?” It was her turn to blink dumbly as her mouth fell open.

  “What, how?” She stammered.

  “Let’s just say, I know some pretty important people.”

  “Well, they would have to be. Do you know how valuable that piece is? It’s priceless.” Juliet shook her head, trying to fathom how anyone would ever part with something so significant, and why anyone would be crazy enough to offer it up for a bet.

  “So, do we have a deal?” Niko asked, holding out his hand. Juliet laughed and nodded, taking it and shaking. He held her hand in his and turned it, raising the palm up closer to him and running his thumb over its centre, his touch causing a shiver to run through her.

  “Good, it’s healed completely.” He said. She nodded, remembering the initiation ceremony and the cut that had been all but forgotten.

  “I was worried at first.” She said. “That I wouldn’t be able to practise. But it healed much quicker than I expected.”

  Niko nodded; his eyes still focussed on her hand. He pulled her closer to him and she stopped breathing as she stared up into his face. He placed his free hand around her waist and leaned in, slowly bridging the gap between his mouth and hers.

  Juliet was struck by the length of his eyelashes and the fullness of his lips. She exhaled slowly, letting her eyes drift closed before she took a deep breath and decided to stop being so passive. She closed the distance between them in a rush and as suddenly as she had kissed him, he was kissing her back.

  What started off as a quick, impulsive kiss began to build in tempo. Niko’s hands found their way up the back of Juliet’s top and she pulled at the front of his shirt. He kissed like an expert and she could taste beer and the bitterness of nicotine on his warm tongue.

  When Juliet was fourteen, she’d received her first kiss from a boy named Matthew Saint Claire. She hadn’t known him long and she hadn’t liked the way his braces had scratched her lips. There had been other boys over the years, some better than the rest. None of them had ever caused the world to fall away like she’d read about in romance novels. She’d confided this in Beatriz once and her friend had kissed her without warning, confirming that her lack of desire wasn’t caused by her paramour’s gender.

  Kissing Niko didn’t just make those other kisses pale in comparison, it made Juliet question whether she could ever kiss another man again, now that she would know what she was missing. Chaos began to flood her mind, slowly spiralling until she felt overwhelmed.

  She was suddenly very aware of every reason why she should not be kissing a guy she had only met a week earlier. He was still virtually a stranger. All she knew about him was that he was a smoker and a smooth talker. He was a Demon for crying out loud, she didn’t even really understand what that meant. Maybe he had some kind of power to control her mind, her body. It was definitely responding differently to anything she had ever experienced before. She felt so completely out of control and it was too much for her to process.

  She broke away from his kiss, startled by how instantly cold she felt in the absence of his arms. He looked lost for a moment, blinking and confused.

  “I’m sorry, I can’t do this.” She backed away, heading towards the party on the other side of the glass doors.

  “Juliet.” He said, but she ignored him, opening the door to the party and being instantly enveloped in the group of Otherworlders. How strange it felt to Juliet, that a room full of Demons and Vampires would make her feel like she had come back to reality.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Good evening Mr Dmitriyev. Please remove your shoes and make you way to an available station.” Niko turned in surprise as Doctor Livingstone addressed him. He hadn’t expected to receive training from the man himself, and he was further surprised by his casual appearance. Absent was the three-piece suit he’d worn like a second skin the night Niko had first arrived. Instead, he wore a cotton button down with loose fitted dark trousers and bare feet. Leather cuffs were wrapped around his wrists and gone was the severity of his expression. Niko instantly liked this version of the doctor considerably more.

  He did as he was instructed and nodded at Scott and the two Vampires whom he’d met the night he arrived at Livingstone. He found himself folding his legs on a soft sage coloured pillow next to an unfamiliar face but judging by her almost unnatural beauty he assumed she was another Vampire.

  The room reminded him of the inside of a genie’s bottle; pillows, bean bags and blankets were scattered all over the room and candles were the only light source. If Niko didn’t know better, he would have thought the doctor was trying to seduce them.

  Juliet breezed into the room a few moments later; he watched as she slipped off her sneakers and made her way to last remaining cushion. She glanced around the room and locked eyes with him, before quickly looking away. The room was dim, but he had the distinct impression that she was blushing.

  It had been a nearly a week since their night on the balcony. Niko had been feeling the pangs of nicotine withdrawal and the sting of Juliet’s rejection ever since. Ever since that night and that kiss… he’d wanted, needed to seek her out.

  He had begun to wonder if he’d imaged the way that kiss had made him feel. Surely it was impossible for such a small thing like a kiss to stir such intense feelings.

  But Juliet avoided him, making herself scarce after lessons, avoiding eye contact and turning in another direction if they found themselves in the same hall.

  He’d known girls like Juliet before; women who for whatever reason resisted the attraction they felt for him. They always gave in to it, eventually. He hated playing games, but he knew that the more he pushed, the more she would resist so he had resolved to let her come to him.

  His resolve was tested that morning when
he woke up from the most erotic dream he’d ever had. A dream that involved Juliet naked beneath him, tangled in crisp sheets. He could still remember the way she tasted as he’d kissed and licked a trail from her collarbone to hip. The alarm on his phone had cut things short, just as he’d been about to taste the very best part of her. He’d nearly broken the damn thing in frustration.

  His mind had wondered back to that dream all day and he’d had to fight to urge to hunt her down and find out if the reality lived up to it. Sitting so close to her now was already beginning to stir something inside of him, he had to force himself to concentrate when Doctor Livingstone began the class.

  “Welcome everyone. For those of you who are new to Livingstone, within the sanctity of this class you may call me Elijah.” He said, as he took his place at the front of the room, crossing his legs and positioning his upturned palms on his knees.

  “Mental agility or the art of sentient manipulation is an ability that requires intense discipline to master. Just like a muscle, the brain is capable of strength and flexibility that requires regular exercise and utilisation.” Elijah looked around the room as he spoke.

  “In these sessions we explore the techniques, variations and associations of sentient manipulation. Now, we will start off today’s session slowly, to give you an understanding of the principals and allow you to establish a baseline from which we will be able to gauge improvement. Those who are already proficient will benefit from the revisiting these skills. At the very least, every one of my students should become competent at erecting and penetrating a basic psychic shield. Beyond this we will explore the applications of command inducement and persuasion, memory manipulation, subliminal messaging and remote telepathic communication. All of which is fairly easy to accomplish, if the target of our aim is not equipped with the basic ability to build what’s commonly known as a mental fortress. Which is why we begin our lesson tonight with the basics of shielding.” Elijah straightened his back and took a deep breath before closing his eyes.

  “To begin, we allow our eyes to close and we focus our attention inward. Unlike meditation which requires us to be aware of our physical senses, when we wish to focus our psychic senses, we need to direct out focus inward. Imagine that with each breath you are forming a barrier around yourself. Some choose to visualise a wall going up, brick by brick. For others it is a suit of armour welding shut. Whatever form your shield takes, it is only as strong as your focus allows it to be.”

  Niko focused on his breathing, feeling a little silly as he closed his eyes after a quick peak to make sure he wasn’t the only one. His mind began to form an image of metal chains, winding their way around his entire body, beginning in his lungs and with each breath, moving outwards until he’d lost track of time and felt himself covered in steel.

  “As your shield takes form, you may find your focus beginning to drift. This is perfectly normal. It is no easy task to direct one's attention to one thought for a significant length of time. Simply notice the attention has drifted and calmly return it to the task at hand.”

  He could hear Elijah’s voice as if coming from the end of a tunnel. He found himself able to divide his attention to the voice, testing the shield for any signs of weakness and finding none. He kept breathing and focussing on the formation of the shield, allowing himself to loosen his grip on it momentarily and then tightening the links repeatedly until he felt like it had become a second skin.

  Elijah had gone quiet for some time and Niko decided to test the strength of his shield by opening his eyes. He could feel the thickness of the barrier he’d erected around himself, but struggled to understand how it worked, never having done anything like this before.

  Looking around the room, he noticed that Scott and Eric were comfortably reclined in their beanbags, Clarissa, and the Vampire by Niko’s side looked like they’d drifted off. Juliet on the other hand sat upright like him, her eyes wide and her mouth open slightly, her expression full of wonder.

  Elijah was observing the students, his eyes only half open. After a moment he breathed deeply before ringing a small bell. Those who had appeared to be sleeping began to stir and all eyes fluttered open.

  “Thank you, I feel you’ve had enough time with the basic technique, so we’ll move on. If you all look to the person beside you, I have sorted you into pairs based on your class and general psychic ability.” Niko frowned in confusion, having no memory of any kind of sorting.

  “Yes, that’s right. Before you even arrived here today, I had assessed your basic abilities and I gave you the slightest of subliminal suggestions to direct you into the seats you needed so that you’d be partnered appropriately. You have been paired with the fellow novice who most closely matches your psychic skill. Please take a moment to introduce yourselves before we continue on with our next exercise.”

  Niko looked closely at his partner for the first time. She turned so that they were facing one another, and he reached out to shake her hand, her pursed lips suggested she was not pleased with the partnership. Niko could appreciate her disappointment since he would much rather have been paired with Juliet instead.

  “Niko.” He said, introducing himself.

  “Odette.” She replied, her hazel eyes assessing him. Niko was used to Vampires all being extremely attractive, their lean limbs moved with an unnatural grace and they were typically pale to the point of ethereal.

  Odette’s skin had the usual Vampiric glow, but hers was darker than her nocturnal lifestyle should permit. Niko guessed that she’d probably been spending too much time in the sun, leading her maker to send her here.

  They said nothing else to each other; Niko had never really had the time to understand the snobbery that seemed mandatory for Vampires and she was as clearly disinterested in him. He felt his attention drift to where Juliet was seated. Her back was to him, but she seemed to be engaged in a conversation with her partner Clarissa.

  After another minute Elijah resumed his instructions.

  “What I would like you to do now is to develop your skill at defending your shield. It’s considerably more challenging to maintain your psychic wall when it’s under attack.” Elijah looked solemnly around the room.

  “Vampires, since you are all naturally adept at basic mental fortitude, I would like you to take the first round of defence. Please erect a very basic wall, Demons; I would like you to focus on your partner’s thoughts. Reach out with your mind to find their defences. Search for weakness. The primary goal of this exercise is to penetrate the inner thoughts of your partner to retrieve a surface thought or emotion. This will allow you to test both your own defences while they are under attack and while you are focussing on your attack. Please be aware it is usually considered extremely poor manners to attempt to pry into another’s thoughts, but for the purpose of this class we will make an exception.”

  Niko wasn’t always easily motivated but having his personal thoughts invaded was all the incentive he needed to make sure he set up a damn strong shield.

  “You have three minutes.” He said, “Begin.”

  Niko focussed his thoughts but was still concerned about holding up his own defence. Within only a moment he was able to sense the shield around Odette. It felt like a metal suit of armour that stretched over her entire being, not just her mind. He began to try to mentally push against it and felt not the slightest budge. He could tell immediately that he wasn’t going to get through using force. It would require the kind of strength that would cause him to lose focus of his own shield. Instead, he took a different tact. He began to explore the armour, assessing it the way he would get to know a lover’s skin. He mentally began to caress Odette’s psychic shield, exploring its sinews and curves.

  He could tell it was working when he felt Odette’s mind begin to resist. Her shield became noticeably firmer as he worked. He retreated slightly, letting her feel less threatened and then pressed his mind further against hers. For just a split second he felt it give a little, he thought he heard what sou
nded like a child laughing and then suddenly, he was no longer in the classroom. He was back in the dream he’d had of Juliet in bed, but it wasn’t as real as the dream had been, it was only a memory of the dream.

  “My God, do all men literally think of nothing else but sex?” Niko’s attention returned instantly to the room and Odette sitting in front of him. He shook his head, still able to feel the claws of Odette’s intrusion. He hadn’t even realised his shield had slipped and she’d slid right past it with laughable ease. Her eyes narrowed as she examined his face. He realised she was still in his mind even though he’d restored his barrier.

  “Oh honey, you’ll have to do much better than that.” She said with a crooked smile.

  “That’s time.” Elijah interrupted before he could respond.

  “If you would like to now swap, I’ll give the Demons a moment to prepare. Vampires, you should be more adept at intrusion, but depending on your age you may not have developed the skill yet. Nonetheless, it should still be stronger than that of your Demon partner so you will only be afforded one minute.” He paused a moment and then instructed them to begin.

  Niko hadn’t yet worked out how to erect a new shield, one that would be stronger than the last. Instead, he tried to double his efforts on his existing defences. He imagined the chains becoming thicker and stronger, made from titanium instead of steel. He could still feel Odette ploughing through his memories, her mental claws like shards of glass piercing and scraping as they spiralled through his mind. The cascade of jumbled thoughts and experiences all crashing together in his head as she sifted through them indiscriminately. He felt violated and completely powerless against the assault. He barely even noticed when Elijah announced their time was up. He gasped and his head fell forward at the relief of Odette’s withdrawal from his mind.

  Elijah began to go around the room, asking the Demons to declare if they’d captured any information from their Vampire partners. All shook their head except one. Juliet caught the attention of every Vampire and Demon in the room when she nodded her head. Even Elijah’s eyebrows rose in surprise.