Life Energy.

Marcus closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, it took him a lot of strength to drown out the overwhelming feeling of rage, "Mein Gott, warum umgeben mich so hartnäckige Idioten??" [1] the man sighed and shook his head.

"*Actually, I speak German very well, so watch your mouth when you are saying something in my house!*," David was clearly not in the mood to listen to how this person mistook him for an idiot.

"*But what else should I call you if you brought her to such a thing?! Didn't I tell you to contact me if something happens? What the hell has happened?!" Taubert was bursting with anger. But what annoyed him most of all was not Elena's condition, which he could take care of, but the fact that this situation did not fit into his plans.

From the moment of his resurrection, he could see the future, and even if these were fuzzy and general moments, this was enough for him to make his plans. But since he lost this ability, the only source of information for him was Amelia's notes about upcoming events, which he took possession of with great difficulty and cost.

She was the strongest medium and clairvoyant among all generations of the Teser family and could see the past and the future in a variety of options, and it was her knowledge of these options that allowed Marcus to be several steps ahead of his rivals and know their every choice in advance.

That's just this situation was not among all the options that he knew about. In Amelia's diaries, it was indicated that Elena would begin the transformation, and she would be immersed in sleep for two or three weeks, but deep sleep and coma on the verge of life and death were not the same things.

Something was wrong. Some factor unknown to Marcus appeared, which began to influence the course of things in a different way than it was predetermined. So, it could influence his plans in any unpredictable way. This Taubert could not allow.

"Something or someone sucked out vital energy from your wife, this could not have happened from an ordinary dream. So what's the matter, eh, David?"

David opened his mouth but caught himself thinking that he did not know what to say. By and large, he only knew what Nick was talking about since it was he who found Elena unconscious. But Nick could not be involved in this, right? In their family, only David had special abilities, and partly Daniel, since David transferred his powers to his brother when he was still little.

As for Nick, they practically did not communicate even in childhood.

"I don't know how this could happen, she just lost consciousness and did not recover from that moment. In general, what do you mean by saying that someone took her vitality?" David chose not to mention Nick to Marcus since the reaction of the latter was unpredictable. He did not want to expose his cousin to potential danger but noted to himself once again to ask Nick about that day in more detail.

"I mean this," Marcus raised his hand and grabbed David by the shoulder. From his touch, David's limb froze, he felt his strength leaving him. The man tried to pull his hand to the side, but the body ceased to obey him as if it were under the complete control of a person standing opposite.

"This is what happens when someone absorbs your life energy. If you have it, you can survive even if you are badly wounded, but no matter how healthy and strong your body is, if it does not have this energy, you will die."

Marcus released David and went to Elena, small golden sparks swirled in his palm, the man raised his hand to the woman's chest and directed this energy into her body.

"What are you doing?" David watched the actions of Marcus, trying to restore the sensitivity of his hand at the same time, but it was felt by some kind of alien element, as in severe anesthesia.

"Now I have little energy to awaken her, and when I lose energy, I become, let's say, a little angry. And this is not the most pleasant moment," Marcus cast an unequivocal look at David, recommending that it is better not to take his inner monster to the extreme, "So I will take advantage of the one I took from you and pass it on to your wife."

"Is that how you brought Rick back to life?" David asked after a moment of thought. This question tormented him for a long time, and, observing this process at the moment, he decided that it was so.

"Right."

"And how much... how much energy was needed for this?"

Marcus narrowed his eyes, devilish lights flickered in his gaze, the corners of his lips turned upwards, "Are you sure you want to know the answer to this question? Let's just say that if a similar situation happened with your wife, then even the energy of everyone in this house would not be enough to make her heart beat, not to mention a full return to life."

Goosebumps ran through David's body, the ease with which Marcus spoke about the price of someone's life disgusted the man.

Marcus noticed a change in the face of the owner of the house, but Taubert was no longer bothered by the opinions of others, he did what he considered necessary, even if for the sake of this he had to sacrifice someone's life or a dozen lives.

"Where is your son?"

"And what does he have to do with this?" David asked in surprise, from all people he knew he would rather not show Sean to this man.

"Well, you, of course, may not answer, but I have no desire to sit next to you and your wife for two days to restore her strength. I can give her my energy and in a couple of hours she will be as good as new, but you already know how I get this power. Are you sure Elena will approve of such a method?"

It was not even necessary to answer this question; Elena would never allow sacrificing someone's life for herself. Although in an emergency, David, without hesitation, would give away his own.

Sometimes it seemed to him that he was not the best parent, because even after the birth of Sean, Elena was still in the first place for him. He knew that there were people around who would take care of his son, but if Elena had suddenly died, his life would have lost its meaning.

Marcus smirked when he didn't hear David answer because this answer was obvious, "So I don't want to corrupt her pure soul with dirty energy. In the end, I will still need her."

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[1] "My God, why am I surrounded by such stubborn idiots?"