Chapter 103 | Ewwwww!
Dexter’s grin could have lit up the entire bungalow. "Of course, my lady."
Dexter picked up her fork, scooped a portion of the glowing rice, and guided it to her lips. Mira opened her mouth without protesting, closing her eyes as the warmth spread through her body once more.
From that point on, the girls ate silently.
Each one was entirely consumed by the food before them, as if it were the most delicious thing they had ever tasted in their entire lives.
Lyra finished her three portions in under three minutes, breaking her personal record. Selene finished hers in five. Even Mira, being fed by Dexter, finished in ten.
Dexter stared at the empty bowls, his expression slightly stunned. "You girls were faster than usual today."
He shook his head in disbelief as the girls reached for their water glasses, drinking lots of water to wash down the rich meal.
’Thank you.’
The soft, melodic voice of Lyra drifted into Dexter’s mind like a gentle breeze. She was looking down at her empty bowl, her cheeks faintly pink, but her gratitude was genuine and warm.
Dexter smiled and projected a gentle thought back. ’You’re welcome.’
"Thank you," Selene muttered aloud. Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito’s whisper, but Dexter’s enhanced hearing caught every syllable clearly. He nodded at her with a soft smile.
Selene didn’t leave the table.
While Lyra and Mira eventually moved to the living room, Selene remained seated in her chair, her pale eyes closed.
But Dexter could feel her Echolocation talent was focused entirely on him.
He glanced at her curiously, wondering what she wanted.
’Does she want to hold my arm again?’
The memory of her clinging to him like a kitten on heat the previous afternoon made him smile goofily.
But right now, she didn’t say anything and was simply sitting there, as though listening to him move.
Dexter dried his hands and turned to face the living room before speaking.
"I need to go out this afternoon," he announced. "But I’ll make lunch for you girls first before I leave."
Mira who was in the living room frowned slightly.
But didnr say anything.
Lyra, however, spoke. Once she saw the text written by the ai glasses.
She looked up with her dark eyes.
’You’ve been going out too much lately,’ she projected into Dexter’s mind, her mental voice carrying a rare edge of displeasure.
Selene’s eyes snapped open as her head tilted toward Dexter, her expression unreadable.
Dexter held up a reassuring hand. "It’s just a spar. I made a bet with someone. If I win, I get rich."
Mira’s eyes flickered open. "And if you lose?"
Dexter shrugged. "I gain nothing, and I lose nothing."
Mira frowned, her brow creasing. "If you win, you gain something. If you lose, you lose nothing." She paused. "That doesn’t sound right."
Dexter didn’t elaborate. He simply smiled and turned back to the sink.
Mira didn’t press the issue. In truth, she didn’t particularly care where Dexter went or what he did.
Her mind was occupied by something she hadn’t told anyone.
Last night, her right index finger had moved and it wasn’t fake.
She had spent three years experiencing phantom sensations, false flickers of hope that her nerves were repairing, only to be crushed every time.
She didn’t plan to tell Dexter nor had she told Lyra or Selene. The Grand Cosmos Scripture and the Arcane meals were working.
Her nerves were slowly repairing themselves.
She couldn’t wait for the day she could move on her own again, but until then, she would keep this small, precious hope locked inside her heart.
***
Dexter was deep in thought as he dried the last plate.
The bloodline essence hidden in the Diamond Rice would begin taking effect soon. With any luck, the girls would awaken their new bloodlines before the day was over.
Dexter picked up the trash bin and headed for the front door. "I’m taking out the trash," he announced to no one in particular. "I’ll be right back."
He stepped outside into the cool morning air. The neighborhood was quiet, most residents already at work. A few birds chirped from the power lines above.
As he carried the trash bin toward the curb, his eyes caught movement across the street, opposite their house.
An elderly woman was kneeling in her front garden, carefully watering a row of colorful flowers with a battered watering can.
Dexter paused as he recognized her instantly.
It was the woman he had seen this yesterday morning.
And also the same old woman who Tessa said had bet against him returning.
He smiled wryly and raised his hand in a friendly wave.
The old woman glanced up, looked at him for exactly one second smiled and then turned back to her flowers.
Dexter rubbed his nose. "Tough crowd."
He was about to set the trash bin down by the curb when he felt something wet on his left foot. He looked down.
Foul, grayish water was dripping from the bottom of the trash bag, pooling directly on his bare left foot. The liquid had leaked from a torn hole in the trash bag inside and was now seeping on his leg.
"Ewwwww!"
Dexter recoiled violently, his face twisting in disgust. He shoved the trash bag into the bin, grabbed the garden hose from the side of the house, and turned it on full blast.
"Whooosh!"
He directed the cold water at his foot, scrubbing furiously with his other foot.
"Oh, that is disgusting. That is so disgusting—"
As he was hosing down his foot, a familiar voice drifted down from above.
"That must have been terrifying for you."
Dexter raised his head and he saw a young girl opposite him.
Tessa was sitting on top of the tall brick wall that divided his compound from hers. Her legs dangled casually over the edge, her red hair tied back with a strip of cloth, her green eyes watching him with amusement.
Dexter stared up at her, water still spraying against his foot.