Word Count: 1529

¬Rosie

I pace back and forth, head in my hands.

I've never been so frightened in my life. Facing the idea that my mate is dying, and there may be no cure for him, is terrifying. I've lost a lot in my life, but a mate? I can only get one, and I've come to love Time, more than anything. Most definitely more than my brothers, who have betrayed me, once again, after locking me up with little interest in letting me go.

"So, here's the plan," I say, glancing over at Time as I pace, who lays on his bed, leaning against his headboard. His shoulders are slumped, body weak, as whatever poison my brothers inflicted upon him slowly, and painfully kills him.

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to track down my brothers, and I'm going to threaten them, and get a cure," I tell him assuredly. My eyes are red, sore from all the crying I have done since he told me. "If there is one."

Time sighs, wincing. He's in a lot of pain, I can tell, yet he won't mention it, if he doesn't have to. He knows how much this is scaring me, seeing him like this, with damp hair from sweat that won't stop. A pure-blood immortal should never be on the edge of death. My brothers have no idea how bad Time's death will be for the mortal realm. It will destroy it...

"How are you going to track him down?" he asks, voice raspy, almost unrecognisable. He looks at me, redness shrouding his irises.

I hesitate. "I'm not exactly sure yet."

"And what are you going to threaten them with?" he asks again. I pause, looking at him with my hands upon my hips. He watches me, solemn. He's hopeless, having already given up, whereas I will not. When pure-blood immortals die, they are gone, there is no Death's realm.

"Also not so sure of that yet," I admit, coming to sit next to him on the bed. He gives me a feeble smile, breaking my heart as the light in his gold eyes begins to die out. I hold his hand, feeling the warmth, wishing his temperature would go down. How close he is to death, we don't know, but I'm hoping he will hold on for a while longer.

"Your plan doesn't exactly sound like it's going to work," a voice says from behind me.

Rolling my eyes, I look over my shoulder at Thought, who lounges casually back in his seat. The moment I shared with him what happened, he demanded to be at Time's side, despite everything between them. But he has been awfully cynical since he has arrived, having as many ideas as I do.

"I don't need your commentary, Thought, I'm thinking," I mutter, wishing he would just leave me and Time alone. No, he deserves to be with his brother as much as I do...

"We will figure it out," Time murmurs, fingers weakly stroking the top of my hand.

"We don't have time for that," I say, trying not to sound frustrated, but I can't help it. Time would be the same in this situation as me. "All I know is that I'm going to try my hardest to find them, and get a cure. I'm not going to let you die."

"We don't even know if there is a cure," Thought mutters, tilting his head back. I wish he was easier to ignore, but despite not wanting it, I may need his help.

"You're not being helpful, Thought," I growl. "This is your brother, do you not care?"

"Of course I care. I'm a single moment away from going straight to wherever your brothers are, and killing them," he snaps back, making me flinch. His silver eyes blaze, telling of how serious he is. He would kill my brothers, at the risk of Time's wrath. However, he has no reason to be scared, no real reason to hold back, except-

"Do that, and we won't get a cure," I remind him. I want that cure, yes, but I also don't want Thought to go around trying to kill my brothers. Right now, I hate them with everything in me, but if I lose Time, and my brothers, I will have no one.

Thought narrows his eyes. "Exactly."

Loosening a breath, I turn around, concentrating on Time. Brushing hair dark hair back from where it is plastered with sweat to his forehead, I bite back tears, refusing to accept that this is it, even if all the colour is starting to drain from his face.

"Do they have weaknesses?" Thought asks.

"I haven't known them in such a long time. They have changed so much," I remind him. Looking into Harlan's eyes, he was completely unrecognisable. Altin could be saved, but with their immortal lives having really only just begun, I doubt they have much they care about anymore.

"They have to have something," Thought mutters. And then it hits me.

I get to my feet, a new idea surging through me. "Harlen has a mate. One he rejected, but still a mate."

"We can work with this..." Thought says, joining me on my feet. He may doubt the matebond, but I can personally vouch for how all-consuming it can be, even if all you want to do is ignore it. If I bring them together for long enough, Harlan will surely have to relent, and hopefully will swallow his pride enough to give me the cure for Time.

"Yes, and she's a Virtue. I wasn't told which one, but you must be able to get into their minds or something," I say desperately. Time doesn't say anything behind us, likely having fallen back to sleep.

"I don't think I need to," Thought says, smile growing with each word. "Deductive reasoning tells me that one particular Virtue has been spending the last few months devastatingly sad. Since the Virtue's drive me insane, I've been keeping my distance."

"Perfect, who is it?"

"Sariah. She sounded pretty heartbroken, so whether she agrees to go back to him...well, you'll have to figure that one out," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck.

I shake my head, not wanting to think about what it would mean for her to say no, to not want to help us. "Just bring her here."

"On it," Thought says, glancing at Time before he walks out the door.

***

A few hours have passed. The entire time, I've not let go of my mates hand, forcing him to drink as much water as he can, watching him go in and out of sleep.

Thought wandered through the door without much notice, bringing with him Sariah, Harlan's mate. Looking at her, there is no doubting she is a Virtue. Her beauty and goodness practically radiates from her, being far much better of a person than I could ever imagine myself as being. Her hair is pin straight, a golden blonde colour, with amber coloured eyes that find me immediately.

"You're Sariah," I say, before I can even think twice.

"Thought told me what you want me to do," she says solemnly, her fin, graceful features looking anxiously. I don't blame her. What we are asking her to do isn't easy, especially after being rejected. It's not the end for them, though, I refuse to believe it. Harlan might not deserve a Virtue as his mate, but she deserves a mate.

"Time is going to die, if we don't get a cure," I tell her, motioning behind me. Her lips form a fine line, as she takes in the sight of my very ill mate. It's enough to have anyone feeling bad, especially someone who has given themselves over to being the best person possible.

"Harlan rejected me. He really doesn't want me, so I don't suppose you know why this will work," she says, somewhat sourly.

"He just needs to be persuaded, coaxed," I tell her, remembering how my mother dealt with him when we were in the mortal realm. Harlan is always hard to crack at first, but he is quite sensitive someone gets to the core of it. "He will give in. Don't you want a mate?"

A frown flutters across her face, as if she is offended I would even question that.

"Of course I do...he just seemed so adamant," she tells me, the ghost of the memory of Harlan rejecting her clearly haunting her. If Time rejected me... I don't know what I would have done.

"He will want you," I tell her grimly, not sure if I believe myself. "He has to."

🧡••🧡

Hey guys! If you're enjoying the story, you can head over to Radish and read Time ahead of Wattpad!

🔥••🔥

I'm officially rewriting Alpha Jasper's story now on Radiah! It will be following the same storyline with the same characters, but with revised scenes and some new ones!

I love Jasper's story so much that I wanted to go back and rewrite it. I hope you guys will enjoy it, you can find it now on Radish (:

Instagram: Sophie_Midika

~Midika 💜🐼