Time ✔️

Chapter Forty Two

Word Count; 1572

¬Rosie

He looks exactly as I remember.

There's no doubting which of my two brothers this is; we are practically identical. He's my twin, my other half. We always used to say he was older than me, because he was so much more matured, outgoing and experienced. He had older friends, older girlfriends and was almost always better than me at everything he did.

I was devastated when him and our oldest brother were killed in the accident. It was his death that hit me the most, because despite the fact that we didn't always get along, we were the closest.

And now he is standing before me, having not changed a bit.

Well, I suppose that's not completely true. He walks confidently through the glass doors, brushing the billowy curtain away with a leather gloved hand. His hair is still as black as obsidian, but there is a scarlet red streak running through the fringe of hair that reaches his eyebrows.

"Harlen," I breathe in disbelief. How is this real? I'm not sure what it more surprising, the fact that Harlen is here right now, having someone scaled onto the balcony, or the fact that he just shot my mate in the chest with the crossbow he now holds lazily over his shoulder.

He looks at me, icy atlantic blue eyes which mirror my own are full of humour. "Hello Rosie. Good to see you again."

Bewildered, I watch him step over to Time, who sits beside me, only his torso showing above the sheets, blood seeping from the arrow still wedged between his ribs. Harlen looks over the immortal, who is completely paralysed, the faintest hint of a smile on his face. Then, he reaches for arrow, and yanks it from Time's chest with no remorse to be seen.

I wince, looking away.

"Who are you?" Time says through gritted teeth. I can see the pain in his eyes, the desperation to get up and do something, but his limbs are completely useless. Even as he remains calm, it's clearly the first time he has been shot and paralysed like this. I never would have known any substance in this world would be enough to render an immortal like Time powerless.

"I'm Rosie's brother," he says, as if Time hadn't already figured that out. He knows what he means; who are you really, and what business do you have with poisoning an immortal. "I wouldn't try move. You won't be able to until the poison is completely out of your system."

I feel my heart fall into my stomach, as I stare at the man I grew up with, who is barely recognizable. "Harlen, why are you doing this?"

"Because he's immortal, sis. Don't you get it?"

I don't know what to do, how to react. I'm as bound to the bed as Time is, being completely naked under the covers. This isn't the Harlen I remember. He wouldn't dress like this, he never learnt how to wield a crossbow in his mortal life, and he especially wouldn't talk down to an immortal like this. He might look like my brother, but it's like he's been possessed by someone else.

"Where did you come from anyway? What more do you know?" Time questions calmly, hardly flinching. Him appearing unmoved is his way of showing Harlen that he isn't going to be the one coming out of this on the bad side.

Harlen walks around the bed, standing at the foot. "We have been tracking your use of your abilities. I happened to be in the area when I got a hit."

We. He's working with someone else, maybe?

"I don't understand why you're doing this. Why show up now?" I question. This moment couldn't be anymore disappointing. I've waited so long since I arrived here to be reunited with my brothers, to find one of them has gone off the rails. And for a reason I'm too scared to ask about. I'm scared he's here to kill me and Time.