Her eyes got wide and he paused. “I’m not asking right now, I’m not prepared, but maybe you should get yourself ready. These are all things that I’m going to want very soon. I want to move forward full tilt.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to get that.”
He kissed her softly and then asked her how she felt about it.
“Honestly, it scares me to death.”
“Why?”
“A lot of reasons. Balthazar for one. He isn’t going to be happy with me and you being together. I don’t know how he will act when I have to show my face again. I don’t think it’s going to be good.”
“Do you really think I’m afraid of him?”
“No, I don’t. But that’s the problem, and you don’t even know it.”
She got up and got out of the bed. He didn’t try to stop her because Vincent was trying to figure out why the temperature in the room had changed so quickly. What had just happened?
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, I want to get back to Ethen. If we leave now, we can get back to the Academy before he’s gone. I want to see him.”
She looked like something was bothering her, but when he wanted to get more information, Mallory wasn’t talking.
“I just have a bad feeling, okay? Let’s just get there.”
“Bad feeling? What are you talking about?”
“I just have a bad feeling is all. I think that we should go to the Academy and check on things. We have already been too blasé about it all. You don’t know Balthazar like I do. He’s not going to let it stand if he knows that we’re together.”
“He loves you that much?”
Vincent scoffed and she looked offended.
“It has nothing to do with love. I don’t think he is capable of it. It has to do with the fact that he doesn’t want anyone else to have me. Since my parents promised me to him, I am his property in his eyes. Considering the bad blood you two have with each other, I am worried about what’s going to happen. He could already know about us. We weren’t careful…”
Vincent pulled her toward him with a grab to her arm. She hadn’t seen it coming and before she could stop herself from falling, she was in his arms and he was kissing her. He didn’t want her to be upset and Vincent knew a way to take her mind off of things.
Or, at least he thought he knew. When she pulled away and said she was serious, he had to listen to her and to the bad feeling that she had. Vincent didn’t know what to think about it all, but he decided that following her and seeing where they ended up was as good of an idea of what to do as any. Once she found out everything was okay, they could come back to where they were.
If only the two of them knew what was coming next. Maybe he would have gotten dressed faster or taken the faster route to the Academy. He didn’t have to take the long way underground. If only he’d have known.
***
When they got close, both of them looked at each other. The underground ceiling was alight with fire and there seemed to be smoke everywhere. The place had a great ventilation system, but the fire was just blowing billows of thick, noxious substance everywhere, darkening everything around them.
Mallory squeezed his hand until he thought they might break. She had known. He didn’t know how and doubted that she did, either, but Mallory had known that something was wrong.
The chaos was multiplied because it was about the time that all of the classes were getting out for the day. Whoever had done it, had timed it out rather well. Vincent didn’t have to think very hard or for very long before he knew who the culprit was.
“We have to go find Ethen!”
Her words spurred him on. His mind was on revenge, but he knew that he needed to find his son. He’d just come into his life and Vincent wasn’t going to let anything happen to take him out of it. He just refused and wasn’t going to let it happen.
They ran forward and went down the long staircase that led them deeper into the underground labyrinth. He didn’t need his eyes to see. He was used to the Academy and could do it all with his eyes closed. It got that bad at some points, and the only thing he was worried about was finding Ethen and making sure that Mallory had his hand. He didn’t want to lose her in the smoke.
Several times he had to stop and direct someone to the other side of the Academy. There was one entrance that led directly aboveground and he was pointing everyone in that direction. He wanted to stay and help but knew that he had to find his son first.
They got to his end of the day classroom and there were several children scared and huddling in the corner. His eyes scanned them all and he didn’t see Ethen. He did see several kids that needed his help and while he got them to all follow him to safety, Mallory was asking about Ethen. She found the teacher and wanted answers. What she got weren’t answers that she wanted.
