Chapter 270 | Let Lyra Out!
Dexter smiled at something one of the older people said. And he unconsciously looked to around at his wives and then, his smile slowly disappeared.
It had been almost two minutes since Lyra walked away with Peter and Paul, yet she wasn’t back.
He looked at the direction she went and saw that the twins were safely back with their parents, eating.
But Lyra was nowhere in sight.
Dexter stood beside the picnic mats and slowly swept his gaze across the festival. Hundreds of people filled the field. Children chased one another between colorful mats. Families exchanged dishes and vendors shouted from distant stalls. Too many people, too many sounds and too much noise.
Mira noticed the change in him immediately. "Dexter?"
He didn’t answer immediately as his eyes narrowed as he looked around, but still, nothing. His jaw tightened.
Selene slowly stood. "Dexter."
"I’m checking."
He inhaled, then closed his eyes.
’Enhanced Hearing.’
Dexter stopped listening to the festival as one enormous collection of noise. Instead, he separated it. The world changed. The laughter closest to him disappeared first, then the conversations, the clinking plates, children shouting, footsteps, roller-coaster tracks, music, wind, water. He pushed all of it aside.
Hundreds of heartbeats emerged. ’Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.’ Too many.
Dexter’s brow furrowed as he filtered them. Old. Young. Fast. Slow. People moving. People sitting. People laughing. Children whose hearts raced from excitement. Heroes whose stronger bodies produced slower, heavier rhythms. One by one, Dexter eliminated them.
He knew Lyra’s heartbeat. He had spent enough nights in the same house with her, listening without realizing he was memorizing it. He knew Mira’s. He knew Selene’s. And he knew Lyra’s.
Dexter expanded his hearing. Two hundred meters. Nothing. Three hundred. Nothing. Four hundred. Nothing. His expression darkened. Five hundred. Six hundred. Nothing.
His breathing changed, and Mira saw his hands slowly close into fists. "Dexter?"
Seven hundred meters. Nothing. Eight hundred. Still nothing. The muscles in Dexter’s jaw tightened, and something hot stirred beneath his skin. Mira felt it.
So did Tessa. Even Old Lady Lucy’s previously amused eyes shifted toward Dexter. The temperature around him had begun increasing, and Selene’s face changed slightly.
She couldn’t see his expression clearly, but she could hear his heart. It was becoming faster.
"Dexter..."
He didn’t answer. Nine hundred meters. Nothing. His face turned ugly, and a terrible possibility entered his mind. If Lyra’s heartbeat had disappeared because someone had...
No. The thought didn’t finish. Flames stirred beneath Dexter’s skin, and the grass beneath his boots began drying.
"Dexter." Mira’s voice was firmer now.
He still didn’t answer. His hearing stretched farther. Almost a mile.
Then... ’Thump.’
Dexter froze.
’Thump. Thump. Thump.’
His eyes snapped open. There. Familiar. Distant. Moving rapidly away from the festival. And beside it... two other heartbeats.
Dexter’s pupils narrowed. He recognized something else too. Lyra’s heartbeat was familiar, but its rhythm wasn’t. It was calm and cold. His expression became murderous.
"Aurelyx."
The name escaped as a growl, and Mira’s face changed. "What?"
Dexter turned towards her and Selene as he forced a smile.
"Stay here. I want to go check something out."
The two girls frowned but Dexter’s gaze was absolute so they reluctantly nodded their head.
Dexter merged into the crowd and when he wasn’t visible to them, flames exploded beneath his feet. "Flame Burst Step!"
’BOOM!’
The grass erupted, and Dexter vanished.
---
’BOOM!’
Flames exploded behind Dexter as his body shot through the festival grounds. People barely saw him. Some felt only a sudden gust of hot wind. Dexter avoided the densest parts of the crowd, cutting between tents and stalls before vaulting over a low wall. His foot struck the pavement outside.
He accelerated as buildings blurred and his clothes snapped violently in the wind.
There was only one sound in Dexter’s world now. ’Thump. Thump. Thump.’ Lyra. Almost a mile away and it was moving.
His face hardened. "Aurelyx."
He knew that heartbeat belonged to Lyra, but he knew who was controlling her body.
The second personality. The woman Lyra had once been. Or perhaps the woman still buried somewhere inside her. Dexter didn’t care what complicated explanation existed behind it. Aurelyx was taking her lyra away from him without permission!
He shot around a corner, and several pedestrians jumped. "What the hell was that?!"
Dexter was already gone.
Eight hundred meters. Seven hundred. Six hundred. The city thinned around him, and the paved streets gave way to a quieter district near the outskirts of the festival grounds. Beyond it stood a forested region surrounding several hills and mountains.
Dexter frowned. They were heading there. Why?
Five hundred meters. His bloodline stirred. Four hundred.
Dexter jumped. Flames exploded beneath his boots and launched him over a wall, and he landed in the forest.
’CRACK!’
The ground fractured, and birds erupted from the trees. Dexter immediately accelerated again. Branches whipped past him. Three hundred meters. Two hundred.
Then... he saw them.
Three figures moving through the forest. Two middle-aged men. And between them... Lyra.
Dexter’s expression became glacial. "Where do you think you are going?"
His voice exploded through the forest, and all three stopped. Birds scattered from distant branches. One of the middle-aged men turned sharply while the other frowned. Lyra slowly looked back.
No. Not Lyra. Aurelyx.
Her violet eyes met Dexter’s, and there was none of Lyra’s usual warmth in them. No embarrassment. No softness. No playful hunger whenever food was involved. Only cold amusement.
Dexter stepped forward, and the first man stared at him. "Who are you?"
Dexter ignored him completely, his gaze remaining locked on Aurelyx.
The second man’s face darkened. "Boy, he asked you a question."
Nothing. Dexter looked only at the woman standing between them.
Aurelyx’s lips curved faintly, and her voice entered his mind. ’You caught up to us quite quickly.’
Dexter’s eyes narrowed. "You’re speaking as though you’re the true owner of that body."
The smile disappeared from Aurelyx’s face, and Dexter took another step. "Let Lyra out." The forest seemed to become quieter. "And I’ll choose to ignore this slight."
Aurelyx stared, then laughed. No sound came from her lips. The laughter existed only inside Dexter’s mind. Cold. Mocking.
’Let Lyra out?’ Her eyes sharpened. ’Don’t be naive.’