The Endless Series Book Two The Dragons Heart

Chapter Five: Ben Taylor

CHAPTER FIVE

BEN TAYLOR

I stared at her in shock. Out of all of the crazy things I had heard since coming into the world of Emma Endless, “I might be pregnant” was the craziest. I stroked her shoulders gently and wrapped her in my arms.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

She pulled back from me, wrapping the blankets tighter around her. In that moment, she wasn’t the badass that had defeated the faerie king that had kept her imprisoned. She was a vulnerable young woman, and I had never seen her look so scared.

“I was given a baby blanket today,” she whispered, “one of the water sprites thought she was doing a nice thing by telling me, I don’t know for sure.”

“Well, we should go get a test.”

“But if you leave---”

I showed her the blue ring on my finger. “Remember? I’ve got the sight now, thanks to Floris. I can leave the estate without forgetting. Besides, like hell am I making you go through this alone.”

Her body shook, and I realized she had started crying a little. “You’re too good, Ben Taylor. You’re too good.”

“C’mon,” I said, “let’s get dressed, and we’ll go find a pregnancy test.”

“Um,” she bit her lip, “I don’t know that I should go somewhere in a gown----”

I kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry, Em. I’ll go grab you some clothes. Be right back.”

I was able to dress quickly, putting on the clothes I’d worn before, then I made my way back to Emma’s room. It was kept much the same as it had been when she was a teenager with a Taylor Swift poster on the door, and J14 pictures of Robert Pattinson plastered on it.

I went inside, and I found jeans, a pink t-shirt, underwear, a bra, and socks. She would need shoes, she realized, and I saw a pair of tennis shoes right by her bed that I grabbed along with her purse from the nightstand.

I stopped short when I saw a picture on there. It was of her, and Clark.

Clark Endless-or March-whatever the f**k he was called, had been Emma’s adoptive brother. The two had always been close. But when Clark had discovered his true identity as the faerie Prince, the two had teamed up to kill Oberon, Emma’s fiancé. It had brought them closer together, and they were sort of….

Well, I wasn’t sure what they were.

All I knew was that half of her nights Emma spent with me, the rest Emma spent in faerie with him. Emma had grown up her entire life being forced to be Queen. It was the first time she had ever gotten to be free. To do what she wanted. Now, she was about to have that all taken from her again.

The picture of her and Clark was of the two of them slow dancing, in the fancy ball room of the estate. It must have been on her 16th birthday, because there was a giant, pink 16 balloon off in the distance. They looked happy together.

Whatever Emma decided to do, I would be there for her, I resolved. She had opened my eyes to a whole, different world. One that I didn’t think that I would ever get to be part of and now I was.

For that, I would be forever grateful.

Resolved, I carried her things in my arms, and I took them back to my room. She smiled at me, then got up from the bed, naked, and dressed quietly in front of me. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

When she had finished her last piece, the purse over her shoulder, I took her hand.

“C’mon,” I said, “let’s go.”

We slipped from the Endless estate and walked into the village. As we walked, Emma suddenly stopped short, jerking me back with her.

“What?” I asked. “Having second thoughts? We can go in the morning if you want---”

“Look!” Emma hissed.

She grabbed onto my arm, gripping me tightly. There, out in the field, was her brother. Bradley Endless was making his way across to Adelaide’s, and his eyes were glowing orange, like a dragon in heat.

“C’mon!”

Emma started running, and I followed. Because, try as I might, I couldn’t not follow Emma Endless.