Which meant that she would have been struggling a lot more if she hadn’t had Laurel there to help her. The two women had become fast friends and now that was who Mallory thought of her family.
After she had told Balthazar that the marriage was over and that they wouldn't be doing it, their family had been shunned. More specifically, she had been shunned and her parents had stepped away from her like they didn’t want to have anything to do with her. It was all for show, of course, but Mallory had taken it personally and took off. She had been living in Amsterdam for a couple of years and just recently moved back to London.
There was a part of her that really wanted Ethen to know his father. The problem was that Vincent most likely wouldn’t want to have anything to do with him. He had made it clear after she had given herself to him, that it meant nothing to him more than revenge. It had meant a lot more to her and that statement from Vincent had broken her heart.
So, meeting him face to face was not an option. She couldn't even imagine it, and Mallory had decided that she would do the next best thing. Mallory had always known that Vincent was running the Academy and she thought that maybe if Ethen started there, there would be a nudge from the universe and they would meet. Even if they didn't know who they were to each other, at least they would meet.
Granted, it wasn't the best idea, but it was all she had come up with so far. Even that little bit made her nervous. Anything to do with Vincent made her extremely nervous.
***
Laurel came back from Academy and Mallory asked how everything went.
“It was fine.”
“Did you guys get there on time?”
Laurel shrugged like it didn't matter, and Mallory tried not to be bothered by it. Laurel was a lot more laid back than she was. Mallory had been a perfectionist, striving to be the best and she usually was. Now, though, her life was so different. The shifters didn't want her because she had broken her promise to Balthazar.
So, she decided to hide with humans. It was easier that way, less demands on her time and energy. Although, it never was quite right. Shifters were supposed to be together. They were communal and being alone surrounded by people that were not like her at all was one of the hardest things that Mallory had ever had to do.
“Well, I just have to leave a little bit earlier tomorrow. I should have woken up earlier. It was my fault. He went back to sleep, and he just looked so damn cute, I didn't want to make him go so early. I don't know why they make them go so early in the morning.”
“You should have seen the guy that was there, Mallory. I mean, he was freaking hot. I think he was the principle. That's not the one that you were talking about, what was his name, Vincent?”
Mallory did not want to talk about Vincent. She had been thinking about him the whole time that her friend had been gone. It was bad enough that she was thinking about him like that, knowing that they were never going to be anything else to each other.
“What did he look like?”
“Really tall, really buff, had black eyes and dark hair. I don't know, but I swear he was looking into my soul. And that smile...”
Mallory agreed that it was probably Vincent. She remembered the first time that she had set eyes on him and how he made her feel. The same way he had made her feel the last time. Up until the point that he had admitted that he was using her to get revenge. It hadn’t been a big deal to him, but it had turned out to be a huge deal for Mallory.
“Why are you not going to say anything to him again? If I had a child with a man like that, I would be doing anything in my power to make sure I had another one. Lock it up.”
Mallory had heard it all before. Laurel knew pretty much all of the situation, except she didn't say that one line that Vincent had told her before she left. Before she stormed out. It was that one line that made all the difference. It was the reason that she didn't tell him about Ethen. That was why she had to have Laurel take him instead of taking him herself.
“We both know what you would do, Laurel.”
She took it as a compliment when it wasn't necessarily meant as one. Laurel was quick to fall in love and Mallory really liked that about her. It was something that she herself hadn't been able to accomplish. Mallory hadn't even dated since she was with Vincent. It happened so fast, then she had found out she was pregnant, and then she was having the baby. Now, he was three, and she still hadn't found time to even think about her love life.
“Look, Mallory, I know that you aren't like me and you think with your brain more than I do. But the fact of the matter is, that guy is hot, and he is Ethen's father. I'm just saying, that maybe it's time for you to just put it out there and see what happens.”
It wasn't the first time that the two of them had talked about it, but Mallory was not in the mood today. The last thing that she wanted to talk about was the guy that broke her heart. That was literally all he had done and knowing that he still had it, just make it a little bit harder. Why couldn't he have gotten fat and bald or something?
“Well, as much as I would like to sit here and talk about my nonexistent love life, Laurel, I really have to get ready for work.”
“I wish you didn't have to go in. You could stay with me and go to the concert later. It starts really early, like at two. We could probably get done before Ethen is done with his after-school program.”
Mallory declined. She knew that Laurel wanted her to go as a buffer because she was meeting some new guy there. Mallory didn't want to be the third wheel, so she scampered off to work before she could figure out a way for her to go.
London was bustling around her and she made her way across town to start baking. She was a baker's assistant at a great dessert place not too far from where she lived now. It had been the first place to hire her when she got into town a few months ago. She didn't really need the money too much. It was more for show. She was just another human trying to make ends meet in London.
Mallory knew the only way she was going to stay hidden and away from people, was to hide within the humans. It was actually easier than she imagined, if not a little dull.
Chapter 9
The last through the door was a small boy that was there a couple of minutes after the bell rang. Vincent had noticed that the same small boy in the preschool class was late several times now. He had taken over twice a week with the little kids, just to relieve himself of the stress of teaching the older kids. Vincent stayed as far away from the senior classes as possible. \
