The Sacrifice.

Nick didn't know how to answer this question. Over the past two days, there were so many different thoughts in his head that he began to get confused in them. Sometimes it seemed to him that his consciousness was falling into a dark void, from which it became more and more difficult to get out.

He did not sleep almost all night, fearing that he might not wake up in the morning. As if invisible tentacles were wrapped around his body and pulled him into the unknown. There, where his world disappeared, where Ashley disappeared, and where he himself had to stay.

His time was running out.

"I would like to say that my life does not depend on whether there is another person in it or not, but it will not be true. Everything I have lived for the past six months has been a reflection of my hatred for the one who robbed me of my family, friends and my world. The one who killed his own daughter in front of her five-year-old child. You killed everyone who was once dear to me."

Nick looked at Marcus, not trying to hide his attitude towards the man. And if before that there was only hatred in the heart of young Anderson, now pain and resentment were added to it. What kind of monster did you have to be to kill your child so mercilessly?

"That's impossible," Marcus replied dryly, looking Nick in the eye, "I couldn't do it. Anyone but Elena."

"Oh, really? Didn't you almost do the same a week ago?" Nick chuckled and folded his arms over his chest, "Or has Elena been in a coma for so many days for some other reason? Who knows, maybe you had time to tweak her brains, as you did with Sean? How else to explain the oddities in her behavior?"

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier," Marcus replied without irony or arrogance. He really regretted what happened to Elena in Mexico. "As for everything else, I see no reason to make excuses for what I think is right."

"Nick, do you think I'm odd?" Elena got ahead of the guy as he opened his mouth to throw another verbal punch at Marcus. "Is there something wrong with me?" She tilted her head to the side and stared at Nick. The woman's gaze was soft, but the chills that ran down the guy's back were of a different opinion.

Nick glanced at the others, and there was a clear signal in his face for help, but the SOS call went unnoticed. He wanted to say "yes, you're a little odd," but his mouth refused to say the words out loud. Everyone froze, mentally agreeing with one thing, but showing completely another.

Marcus took Elena's hand and squeezed it in his palm, "You're okay. Don't think about any nonsense." At that moment, she reminded him of little Amelia. She also behaved strangely in the opinion of outsiders, which is why she caught sidelong glances and whispering behind her back.

If Amelia hadn't blocked most of Elena's abilities as a child, who knows what kind of conditions the girl would have grown up in? Most likely, she could go crazy or lose touch with reality.

Marcus knew that something was wrong with Elena. More precisely, with the creature that stuck in his daughter. But he saw no point in talking about it to her face. To fight the one who was a priori stronger is stupid. He learned this from childhood. Without examining the enemy, going ahead is complete recklessness.

"Nick, I understand your reaction," David put his hand on his son's shoulder and pointed to an empty seat next to Daniel, "Let's sit down and discuss everything in detail so that this does not happen again. And then we'll solve all the other cases, don't you agree?"

Nick reluctantly walked over to the other sofa and sat down in an empty seat. Now he sat across from Marcus and beheld the latter's amused grin. David sat down next to Elena, kissed his wife on the cheek and continued, "I think it will not be a secret for anyone the reason why we are here today." The man looked around everyone present and stopped at Taubert.

"Marcus, I hope you will inform us on your grand plans to take over the world? We have a lot of questions for you."

"Nah, I think I'll pass," Marcus crossed his legs and crossed his fingers over his knee. "First I want to know the details regarding what I did in the future, according to our boy, that he had to run away here? By the way, how did you get through the portal?" he leaned towards Nick and added a halftone quieter, but everyone heard him, "I thought it was impossible."

Nick narrowed his eyes and mirrored Marcus's pose, crossing his legs and leaning slightly forward, "Why do you need to know this, Mr. Taubert? Do you also want to try it? Or fix something in the past? To prevent, for example, some kind of accident?"

Marcus's face turned stone. Still, the kitten learned to bite a little and hit the spot. For a moment, the man allowed the opportunity to change the past. He did not need something global, just a few seconds were enough to save one life.

"You got yourself in a dirty way not only the kukri, but also the pendant of the Teser family, which opens the gates of time. And somehow I don't see that you brought it with you," Nick gave the man a glance, confirming the absence of the things mentioned, "And now you are waiting for me to give step-by-step instructions on how to use it?"

"Nicholas is right, Marcus," Armand turned to his brother, "I can guess your motives, but this does not negate everything you have done. If we have a common goal, then the road to achieving it should begin with trust in those who go with you along this road."

Marcus silently looked at each of those present. Everything he had done before was blindly following Amelia's instructions. And what he was about to do now could destroy what he had achieved with one wrong step. One step that did not fit into the general plan could be fatal.

The man closed his eyes and raised his hand. Light flashed in his palm, and a second later, two objects appeared from space. Marcus put the kukri knife in the center of the table, twisted the pendant in his hand and threw it to Nick, "How about that?"

Nicholas caught the pendant and looked at the man in surprise. The guy did not expect that Marcus Taubert would give up so easily what he had been hunting for for many years.

Nick focused his gaze on the beautiful weave of gold threads that framed the pendant. He studied this little thing so many times that he knew every detail of it by heart. The young man squeezed the pendant in his palm, feeling its lightness and simultaneous power, unclenched his fingers and put it on the table next to the kukri.

"Passing through the time portal is impossible without sacrifice. One human soul lets in a guest, another soul lets out."

"How did you know that?" Daniel wondered. "Is it written somewhere?"

"Yeah, right here," Nick pointed to his head with his finger.

"The sacred knowledge is stored in the genetic memory of the Teser family members and emerges by itself at the right time," explained Elena.

"Ashley sacrificed her life to get me into the portal," Nick clenched his hands into fists. Some time ago it still helped, but now the sensations were barely noticeable. Lina was right. In Mexico, he wasted too much energy.

Daniel frowned and looked at his nephew. The man himself did not notice how quickly he became attached to this guy. "You said you need another soul to get out?"

There was a deathly silence in the room. Nick lowered his head and stared at the floor.

"Whose soul is it?" David asked, but he already guessed what the answer would be.

Nick was silent.

Marcus closed his eyes and sighed. Now everything fell into place. The man understood why this guy was so different from everyone else.

"It's his. He paid his soul to get out of the portal."