The Grace of a Thousand Stars (PREQUEL)

Chapter 28- Soulmates

--Ines POV--

"Ooh, nice house you got here. What line of work are you in to be able to afford it?" Maxwell asked as Vivian parked the car in the driveway of the luxurious-looking house, and like him, I was peering at the house too, awestruck.

I've never seen a house like this before. It was pretty, made of some sort of grey stone with lots of windows, and I vaguely remember the memory in which I told Alaric about my dream house that I wanted to live in once I broke the curse.

It seems that even then, I was already so used to living as a Human that I planned to stay here once the curse was broken.

"I'm a businesswoman, became one even before women had rights... I could buy a house like this without batting an eye if I wanted... But this isn't my house."

"What? Then whose is it?" Maxwell itched the back of his neck, but he was no more confused than the rest of us.

"We'll figure that out later. For now, we need to get to my father, I haven't seen him in five years; That's the longest we've ever been apart, you know." I was quick to snap back to reality as I hopped out of the car, shutting the door behind me and waiting for the rest to follow.

"He's this way." Halcyon pointed out, looking at the crystal, and it was my turn to follow him as he led us around the house, through a gate which I presumed led to the garden and down some stairs that ended on the beach.

And from here, I could see them both.

My father in the water as he towered down above Alaric who didn't look the least bit intimidated, but their lips were moving as they spoke, and with every word Rick uttered, my fathers' brows dipped down with his narrowed eyes.

I knew that look all too well. It's the look that appeared on his face moments before he reckoned death upon someone, but unlike all the other times, I couldn't afford for his trident to come down on this specific person this time. Because this person was my new world.

"Father! Leave him alone!" I yelled, the words leaving my throat before my eyes could even properly process what they were about to see. What kind of conversation were they having that had my father looking so eerily angry?

My legs moved faster than my mind could process as I rushed down the steps, missing a few in my hurried panic, but Halcyon was there to catch me and stable me just in time before I continued running. Even after my shoes made contact with the sand, my legs falling in and the sand scratching at my feet, I continued to run.

Because I didn't want to lose this man. To my father of all people, I couldn't lose him.

"Ines?"

"Silvia?"

They both echoed simultaneously as I approached them. Maxwell, Vivian and Halcyon following in my steps but lagging behind a bit as they all waited for each other unlike me who rushed ahead.

"Don't hurt him, father." I begged, panic in my tone.

"Ines, what are you doing here?" Rick asked, caught off guard for a moment as I jumped into his arms without a second thought. Wrapping my arms around his neck tightly, I held onto him as his arms coiled around my waist, his scent and his warmth assuring me that he was all right, I had made it in the nick of time.

"Daughter of mine, what is the meaning of this?" I had missed the sound of my fathers' voice, so many stories they had once told me, but this situation wasn't the ideal moment to be reminiscing, much to my displeasure.

"It is as you see, father. This man is mine, I can't let you hurt him." I spoke, refusing to uncoil my arms from around Rick as I spoke loud enough for them all to hear.