Time ✔️

Chapter Forty Three

Word Count: 1834

¬Rosie

Harlen does a good job in getting as much distance between us and Time as possible.

He ushers me quickly out of the building and into a vehicle, locking my door behind him. I don't bother fighting back, even if the closing of the car door has my blood chilling, my heart jumping into my throat. I may be in the presence of my brother, but the last thing I feel is safe. His claim to keep my safe is nothing more than an excuse.

And excuse to hurt someone I love. Love.

Time is sitting in the room still, surely concocting a plan of destruction to get me back, once the poison is out of his system. But if they have more technology like that, which hurts immortals, I refuse to get him involved.

My brother won't hurt me. Harlen may be unrecognisable, but he wants me alive; he thinks he is saving me. I have to get myself out of this myself, but quickly. I have no way of contacting Time, and he is going to be searching the moment he is free.

Harlen and I don't exchange any words for quite some time. As he drives, I pay special attention to the direction we head. I'm not coming back to the place Time whisked me away to, as I assume the moment he can use his magic, he will be out of there. But I want to keep my bearings, to have an advantage, despite everything.

We seem to drive for hours before I have the courage to muster up any words. "Who even are you anymore?"

It hurts to say it, but it's true. Who is he? Harlen and I didn't always get along in childhood; he was always so outgoing, always doing something with people I didn't know. But he was still my brother, and I loved him.

Do I still love him? Yes, of course I do.

"I'm not the one mated to a pure-blood immortal," he replies, looking straight ahead at the road. The tone of his voice makes me flinch more than the words he snaps at me. It's not anger, but a kind of disappointment that has me sinking back into my seat. I refuse to appear offended thought. You can't control who your mate is.

"Why do you hate pure-bloods so much? You never mentioned anything like that when..." I break off, my voice getting lost with the wind that whips through the half open window.

Harlen looks over at me with a grim expression, knowing what I was meaning to say. "When I was alive? Altin and I died in a stupid accident, but you...you should have lived. He didn't have the right to take that away from you. And then you go and forgive him."

"That's none of your business. How do you know any of that?"

"Ever since you came here, we have been watching. I told you that," he tells me lightly. The way he says it suggests he thinks I should be grateful for him, for looking out for me, then pulling something like this. He even has the audacity to smile, and even though its the same smile from our childhood, that used to make me happy, has my stomach turning.

I grit my teeth, trying not to erupt in anger. "Well I'm sorry I was distracted by you shooting my mate in the chest. Where did you get that technology from anyway?

"I have a lot to catch you up on, don't I?" he murmurs, that smile still painted across his face. He looks at me, the tension gone. "We used to argue a lot when we were children. Altin and I used to chase away your boyfriends."

He's right, we did fight. A lot. But we still loved and forgave each other every time.

But not this time. If Time wasn't immortal, he would be dead.

"You can't chase away a mate," I remind him. My initial anger is starting to reduce, especially with the mention of my oldest brothers name. Altin. Altin was always different to Harlen, always home helping our mother, studying or painting. He was soft, intelligent and kind, and never pushed me, nor argued with me.