Read Dexter 4 - Dexter by Design for Free Online Page A

of words in a row for him. It was wonderful to see him coming out of his shell with this new hobby.
    “Yes,” I said. “And Kick the Can is a good game to practice that.” They looked at each other, and then Astor said, “Show us first, and then we'll go get everybody”
    “All right,” I said, and I stood up and led them to the hedge between our yard and the neighbors'.
    It was not dark yet, but the shadows were getting longer and we stood there in the shaded grass beside the hedge. I closed my eyes for just a moment; something stirred in the dark back seat and I let the rustling of black wings rattle softly through me, feeling myself blend in with the shadows and become a part of the darkness ...
    “What are you doing?” Astor said.
    I opened my eyes and looked at her. She and her brother were staring at me as if I had suddenly started to eat dirt, and it occurred to me that trying to explain an idea like becoming one with the darkness might be a tough sell. But it had been my idea to do this, so there was really no way around it.
    “First,” I said, trying to sound casually logical, “you have to make yourself relax, and feel like you're a part of the night around you.”
    “It's not night,” Astor pointed out.
    “Then just be a part of the late afternoon, okay?” I said. She looked dubious, but she didn't say anything else, so I went on.
    “Now,” I said. “There's something inside you that you need to wake up, and you need to listen to it. Does that make sense to you?”
    “Shadow Guy,” said Cody, and Astor nodded.
    I looked at the two of them and felt something close to religious wonder. They knew about the Shadow Guy —their name for the Dark Passenger. They had it inside them as certainly as I did, and were familiar enough with its existence to have named it. There could be no doubt about it —they were already in the same dark world I lived in. It was a profound moment of connection, and I knew now that I was doing the right thing —these were my children and the Passenger's and the thought that we were together in this stronger-than-blood bond was almost overwhelming.
    I was not alone. I had a large and wonderful responsibility in taking charge of these two and keeping them safely on the Harry Path to becoming what they already were, but with safety and order.
    It was a lovely moment, and I am quite sure that somewhere music was playing.
    And that really should have been how this day of turmoil and hardship ended. Really and truly, if there were any justice at all in this wide wicked world, we would have frolicked happily in the evening's heat, bonding and learning wonderful secrets, and then ambling in to a delicious meal of French food and American pizza.
    But of course, there is no such thing as justice, and most of the time I find myself pausing to reflect that it must be true that life does not really like us very much, after all. And I should not have been surprised when, just as I reached out a hand to each of them, my cell phone began to warble.
    “Get your ass down here,” Deborah barked, without even a hello.
    “Of course,” I said. “As long as the rest of me can stay here for dinner.”
    “That's funny,” she said, although she didn't sound very amused.
    “But I don't need another laugh right now, because I am looking at another one of those hilarious dead bodies.” I felt a small inquisitive purr from the Passenger, and several hairs on the back of my neck stood up for a closer look. “Another?” I said. “You mean like the three posed bodies this morning?”
    “That's exactly what I mean,” she said, and hung up.
    “Har-de-har-har,” I said, and put my phone away.
    Cody and Astor were looking at me with identical expressions of disappointment. “That was Sergeant Debbie, wasn't it?” Astor said. “She wants you to go to work.”
    “That's right,” I admitted.
    “Mom is going to be really mad,” she said, and it hit me that she was probably right —I could