Mated to the Beast of the Wasteland novel Chapter 60

Chapter 60 Buried in the Garden

Chapter 60 Buried in the Garden

“Purify!”

+10 Free Coms

A pinpoint of gold burst outward, scattering into specks of light that drifted down across the entire yard.

The blackstone in her hand lost half its energy in an instant.

The packed, metal-hard soil began to shift in visible ways.

The dirt went from a gray-and-black mottle to a warm light brown, the gold light sinking down into the earth as it spread.

Gillian winced. No wonder George had nearly cracked up last night when she’d said she planned to fill the yard for vegetables.

Half a stick of blackstone ran about 50,000 coins. That same money could’ve bought her over 1,600

carrots.

Never mind the water, the fertilizer, and the labor she’d still need to actually grow the vegetables.

Run those numbers and the math really didn’t work out.

Gillian thought about the thousand acres of flat land she’d bought and felt the ache. At this rate, even her 1.18 billion coins wouldn’t be enough to throw around.

She’d thought she was officially rich. Turned out she couldn’t even afford to farm.

“Gillian, the light’s gone.”

Merrick stood beside her, watching the gold light flare and fade, his expression dead serious.

Gillian nodded and coaxed him along like a child. “Pretty, right? I put on a show just for you.”

Merrick turned to look at her, his clear eyes locked onto hers, and his smile bloomed wide. “Pretty.”

Gillian quietly turned her head away. This goofy version of Merrick was wrecking her heart with that face of his every other second.

She gave the back yard the same treatment.

Thinking about Clara’s invitation to the Agricultural Institute, she figured she should drop by as soon as

she could.

Maybe they’d have a way to speed up her growing season.

Gillian glanced at the idle Merrick and shoved the pickaxe into his hand.

“Merrick, turn over this patch of dirt for me.”

Merrick took the pickaxe, recognized it as a digging tool, and actually got to work.

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Chapter 60 Buried in the Garden

Gillian suddenly realized Merrick was pretty useful to have around.

+10 Free Coms

She didn’t know what level beastman Merrick was, but his hands moved fast and clean. The back yard was easily a thousand square feet, and he tilled the whole thing in no time.

Bring him out to mine blackstone, and the job would be twice as fast.

Gillian started turning over the possibilities of taking him along to dig.

“Done.”

Merrick finished and turned his attention back to Gillian. “Gillian. Sleep.”

Gillian checked the time and figured she had about another half hour before he’d sober up. No rush to head back inside.

She crouched down to examine the freshly turned dirt and found the soil underneath was rich and dark once the taint was cleared out. That at least took some of the sting off her wallet.

Gillian took the pickaxe back from Merrick and led him quickly to the small seed shed next door, pulling out the packets she and Mabel had picked out earlier.

“Carrots, tomatoes, autumn cucumbers.”

Merrick read off the names one by one.

Not a single one wrong. Gillian had to laugh. She hadn’t expected Merrick to know his vegetable seeds.

“Nicely done. Tonight we’ll start with carrots.”

Gillian wanted to run a test crop first and see if anything would actually grow.

When she started sowing the seeds, she had Merrick sit on the low stool out in the yard.

“Sit right here and watch me.”

Merrick looked reluctant, so Gillian leaned down and kissed him once, and only then did he settle.

One kiss only bought her this much time? Gillian sighed.

Her planting method was almost cheating.

Her psionic power split into fine threads, wrapped around an entire packet of carrot seeds, and scattered them along the outermost row of dirt.

“Mix the small seeds evenly with the soil.”

She combed her psionic threads through the dirt to smooth it out. “Cover with a thin layer of soil.”

“Keep the soil damp, to help the seedlings come through.”

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Chapter 60 Buried in the Garden

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