Page 87 of The Heart of the Dragon

"What? No. I'm not pregnant." I resisted the urge to cover my stomach as if there was already something there that needed my protection.

Ensley scoffed. “You are both acting a fool. When the man and the dragon who are intertwined were not one, that is when the deed was done. Your fate was sealed.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Magnus growled.

“Oh my God. When I poisoned you?—”

“That doesn’t make sense. It can’t happen like that.”

Magnus looked like he was going to explode. Or choke the life out of the little demon.

"I said what I said. It is you who has to decide what happens next. But it is time to repopulate the dark fae line, and I begrudgingly admit that introducing a dragon into the line might keep your family safer this time around. Sometimes that is the way. You have to become the very thing you've hunted for generations to survive."

Not a single one of her words made sense to me. And yet they pinged through me as prophetic. However, it was a lot to take in and I had to fight the overwhelm.

"What do you mean repopulate?"

She glanced between Magnus and me. "You haven't told her. Oh Gods. Of course you didn't." She threw her head back and laughed. "You fae males are all the same. Ego for days."

"What is she talking about?"

He scowled at us both, straightening from the tree he'd been leaning on. "We don't have time for this. The only advantage wehave here is that my uncle likely doesn't know I've been gone or that his spell has been broken. We need to strike while we can."

"Well, she can't go in looking like that." The sprite narrowed her eyes. "Unless you're planning to take her as your captive."

My eyes bugged out at that word. "Uhm. I don't think so. And what exactly is wrong with the way I look? I'm all cleaned up."

"It's not the pretty dress that's the problem," the sprite started. "It's?—"

"Shut the hell up," Magnus roared. "Stop trying to scare her."

Ensley glared at Magnus and he glared right back.

"Is that what's going on? You're trying to scare me?"

"You should be scared," she spat. "They'll take one look at those ears and you'll be on the hanging tree or in the dungeon before you can blink."

"My ears?" My hands flew up to touch them and found they were still pointed. I'd kind of forgotten about them for a minute. "Hanging tree? I know we're in a different realm, but — People don't get hanged anymore."

"They do here." Ensley smirked. "And it's not for a lack of better options. Magic can render a life as silently and painlessly as possible. But some of our more illustrious kings still prefer a good hanging and Aegrond happens to be one of them.”

"I am really starting to understand why you hate this man so much. He should be in prison."

A tight smile appeared on Magnus's face. "I don't hate that idea. It could be fun to watch him suffer alongside all the men he's thrown into the dungeon."

I shook my head. I guess itwasstill the dark ages here. Which meant it probably wasn't a haven for women either.

"You still didn't answer why my ears are a problem." And I got the impression they were dodging the question. "Whatever it is, you might as well spit it out so I can deal with it. Especially if I'm not going to like it."

"Yeah, dragon-man," Ensley mocked. "Spit it out and tell her why her ears are a problem."

He sighed, hopefully realizing he couldn’t keep avoiding the issue. "They identify you immediately as dark fae."

"And?" Ensley said snidely. "Why would that be a bad thing for such a coveted young omega like her?"

"My uncle hates the dark fae. He ordered them all killed several moon cycles past. If he finds out one has returned, and an omega at that, I don't know what he'll do. He's mad. Insane. Out of control. He won't want you alive."

"They're all dead?" I asked, feeling my stomach sink to my spine the moment he nodded. This couldn't be real. "And you knew that all this time." It wasn't a question because I could tell by the stricken and shameful look on his face that he did. "And you brought me here knowing that?"

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