Word Count: 1667

~Rosie

"Please don't hurt me."

It's the first words to come out of my mouth. I'm staring at my mate right now. That exact man who I have gotten comfortable with over these past few weeks – if time can even be counted in the same way anymore. But he's not the same man. He hasn't gone through the same experiences yet, and he's in a dark stage of his life, so he's unpredictable. Plus, he isn't the one who tried to bring us together. He doesn't even know me.

"And why would I hurt you? You're my mate," he says, titling his head to the side. My breath hitches. As serious as he is trying to force his tone, I can see the taunting look in his eyes. He doesn't care about having a mate.

"I don't know what you want. We just want to leave before the timeline gets screwed up," I tell him, exasperated. If anyone is going to understand, I would expect it to be him.

At least I hope he doesn't want to doom this world...

"See, I'm not going to just let you leave without an explanation," he tells me, clapping his hands together like this is some kind of game.

In his eyes, I see that churning curiosity, the excitement for the idea of a game. His life must be truly boring, if he is having fun playing around with something this serious. No wonder the Time I know so well was afraid of me seeing his older self. Now I sit here, unsure of what to do, knowing the power he wields in those fingertips of his, which only moments ago, were all over me.

"That will screw with everything and you know that," I hiss, hoping I can get it into his head how serious this is. My heart is sinking though, as it dawns on me how serious this is. He's not going to let me escape, and who knows where Time is.

Time leans back into the couch. "I don't really care, if I'm honest."

"What did you do with...Where is my era's version of you?" I question. If he has done something to hurt him, then there is no way I'll be getting back home. And if this Time is going to trap me here in this era, then I will quite literally tear my hair out. Not to mention, what I've witnessed so far of the immortal sitting in front of me, I don't like him, and where he is currently at in his life.

"Elsewhere. Don't worry, no one is going to interrupt us," he tells me, smiling at me lazily. This is one big joke to him.

"Please Time. I know you. I know who you will be, at least. You wouldn't want the world to be destroyed over...me," I tell him. He looks at me pointedly, like he's reading me. Suddenly I feel vulnerable, as if he is reading into the relationship Time and I have struggled to get together.

"Entertain me for a moment..." he draws off, searching my face as it will reveal more about me.

"I'm not telling you my name," I fold my arms over my chest.

"Rosie. Now-"

All of a sudden, the door to the apartment opens, and in strides in the last Immortal I ever hoped to see right now. Sinful. Both Time and I freeze, although he doesn't realise how detrimental this situation is. Especially since I've spent these last few weeks fleeing him. Now, he's standing right in front of me, staring down at me with those frightening lavender eyes.

"Finally. Took a bit longer than expected," he comments, brushing off the sleeves of his shirt as if he has just traversed through the wilderness to arrive here.

I'm absolutely mortified.

"Please don't hurt me," I say immediately, holding my hands up in defense. Sinful grins down at me, not even once looking toward Time, suggesting exactly who he is here for. The one who can't fight back. "I've done nothing wrong to you."

Sinful takes a step toward me, but before he can even get in my close proximity, Time seizes my arm, and suddenly, everything around me dissolves into nothing, and I fall. The feeling is so familiar, it's a mix of relief and anger that consumes me. Time is taking us away from the imminent problem that is Sinful, but he's also taking me away from the Time from my era.

The moment my feet touch floor, I explode. "What have you done?"

Everything around me builds up into a full picture. We are in a beautiful room, admittedly. Sun streams in from elegant windows that raise all the way up to the high ceilings. Everything in here is white and silk, so luxurious and lavish I can hardly believe I'm standing here. It some kind of formal room, where rich people would drink tea and read books in the morning sunlight.

"I saved you," Time replies, backing up until he sits down on a chaise lounge I hadn't even noticed was right behind him. "I mean at least that's what I assumed I was doing."

"Don't act like you give a damn about saving anyone," I snap at him, the built up frustration from all of this finally coming up. I'm not even afraid of him, as I look out the window to see the top of an extensive city. "Where the hell did you take us?"

"About five years back from where we were."

I whirl around. "You took me through time?"

"Didn't look like I had any other choice," he tells me, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. However, this Time is, he's nothing like the one I remember from him. He's cruel, seeing this as one big practical joke. "Plus, I thought we could have a private talk, instead of having to worry about immortals coming through the door."

"You left Time back there...my Time. And you know you don't have to change the year to have a conversation," I yell at him. Admittedly, I don't want to be getting so angry at him, but I don't know what else to do. Everything is ruined being away from the Time I need...And that's truly frightening.

Time motions around himself, specifically on the seat right beside him on the couch. "Well now that I have you here, why don't you take a seat."

"You know how bad this is Time. You can fix this. Take me back to your true era, and nothing bad has to happen. Sinful will follow us away. I'm begging of you," I plead, perching myself on the edge of the couch opposite to him. If he thinks for one second I'm getting any closer to him than I need to, he's insane.

"How is it being my mate," Time asks, dismissing my words.

I grit my teeth and narrow my eyes on him. "Seriously? This is petty..."

"I'm curious. The relationship between you in me in the future seems a little, complicated. I mean you wanted to kiss me, didn't you, but you're afraid of me," he muses, seeping all the enjoyment out of this situation he can.

"I'm not afraid, especially not of you. You won't hurt me because I'm your mate, otherwise known as your last chance at happiness in this world," I say, forcing my own confidence into this situation. What I've learnt from this experience is how much I mean to Time, if sometimes he won't admit it. He's been scared of pushing me away with his past. As much as I can't trust this particular time, he can't be too far away from being the one I know so well.

"Ouch, she bites back," Time comments, the flash in those golden eyes suggesting he's enjoying the back and forth. "Alright then, I won't hurt you, but until I get some answers, you're not going home."

My heart drops.

"I don't know what to tell you. We are mates, okay. And I'm sure you know who Sinful is," I tell him. What else does he want from me? I'm not interesting, and surely, he doesn't want to skip forward a few thousand years to be with me, right? At this point, I've given up trying to predict his next move, since it seems as though he enjoys proving me wrong.

"What does Sinful want with us?"

"I'm not completely sure myself," I admit, knowing how vague Time has been with the issue. I know I'm the weak link, and Sinful is targeting me to get to Time. "Now onto you. What happened to Thought?"

"I knew the moment Thought couldn't read your mind that you were a Traveler. So, I left, intercepted Thought before he could take my memories, and shipped him off to a safe place." He tells me, although his tone makes me think that his idea of a safe place is different from mine. All I know is that I'm not going to be able to save him myself.

I get to my feet. "You're purely evil."

"Something like that," he mutters. "Now I have all I want."

"You have to let me go," I tell him. If he's taken my Time somewhere else and hid him where he can't use his powers, the only way I'm going to get out of this is through the damned immortal sitting right in front of me. I'm just going to have to be convincing.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere. You're mine forever," he tells me, his tone falling to a sinister taunt. "And we are going to have a lot of fun."

💜••💜

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

🧞‍♀️••🧞‍♀️

I've released Thought's own story on Radish, which is available now! I want to see by the end, which of the brothers your prefer

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~Midika 💜🐼