Dark and Empty.

Lina clasped herself with her hands, a subconscious defensive reaction turned on by itself. The last time she saw this man was more then twenty years ago, on the day Amelia died. Since then, their paths have not crossed.

"I'm sorry I have to go. It will not be very good if Armand notices us together," she whispered with slight confusion in her voice. It's not that she didn't want to communicate with Marcus, just the situation as a whole was complicated and ambiguous, and the girl was not ready to add one more problem to the list of already complicated issues that she had.

Marcus bowed his head and examined Lina with a studying look, her black long hair was gathered in a high ponytail, a champagne-colored dress encircled the girl's body in the right places, adding sophistication and tenderness to her image.

"Tsk, you know, I'm even somehow offended that you refuse to give me a couple of minutes after what was between us. By the way, have you already told Armand about your little secret?" Marcus grinned sarcastically when Lina cast a malicious look at him when she heard his question.

This was the most sensitive topic for her, and although she understood that sooner or later she would have to show all her cards, the girl was afraid of this moment and tried to postpone it as long as possible.

"Please do not raise this topic. You know perfectly well why I should hide it from him," Lina whispered and turned away, Marcus's gaze was like a knife piercing her heart.

The man sighed, shook his head, mentally lamenting about what a silly girl was standing in front of him, after which he raised his hand and patted Lina on the head,

"I did not expect you to be such a coward. What are you afraid of? Do you think he will leave you after he finds out about your secrets? Then you don't know him at all, dear," Marcus smiled and slightly pinched the girl by the nose.

Lina waved his hand away, the man's teasing only raised more anxiety in her, "You don't understand how I feel. He loved one person all his life, and I am not her. Not like her," the girl added, barely audible.

Marcus sighed with doom. Oh, these women love to add problems and hopelessness out of nowhere.

"Listen, so what, that you are not her. Time is changing and people are changing. Do you think Armand is still the same twenty-year-old boy that he was eighty years ago?" Marcus asked, and by the reaction of the girl, he realized that he had hit the mark.

"No, he is not like that," Lina answered with a slight blush on her cheeks. Even at the first meeting, she realized that Armand was far from the image of an innocent young man, rather, on the contrary, he was like a wolf hiding under the skin of a white sheep, ready to seduce and use his fangs at the first opportune moment.

"That's what it is, butterfly," the man winked at her, "I don't know how far things have gone with my little brother," Marcus said playfully, and the girl's cheeks became even redder. He rested his hand on the wall behind Lina and leaned toward her, "But if this blockhead messes things up, I will be glad to calm your broken heart in my arms," the man whispered in a seductive voice.

Lina looked at his contented grin and was ready to hit Marcus right away. Too bad it was impossible.

"Fool! Stop teasing me!" The girl said with a smile and punched his chest with her fist, Marcus grabbed her hand and brought it to his face.

"Hmmm, do you ever take off this bracelet?" he asked, looking at the unusual decoration on the girl's wrist.

"When I sleep," Lina said, and they both fell silent, focusing their attention on a thin bracelet with exquisite engraving resembling different symbols of some ancient language.

"How are you?" the girl asked, barely audible.

"What do you mean?" Marcus pretended not to understand her question.

"You know what I mean."

Marcus looked from her bracelet to Lina but didn't answer, just smiled, his eyes looked sad.

"Give it here," the girl took his hand and wrapped it in a light greenish haze, the red spots on the man's skin began to fade and after a few seconds completely disappeared.

"What is going on here?" A sharp voice, with obvious irritation in tone, made the girl startle in surprise. Lina released Marcus's hand and looked behind the man.

Nick did not take his eyes off her and Marcus, his eyes were glowing with a fire of rage, and his hands were clenched into fists so hard that his fingers turned white.

"I asked what is happening here?!" Nick repeated his question two tones higher as if he were a husband who found his wife at the time of cheating on him.

Marcus turned lazily and looked at the young man, "Boy, do you even understand who you are barking at?" His voice, like icy Arctic air, caused trembling in Lina's body, but Nick did not care.

The young man quickly walked up to the couple and stood between Marcus and the girl. Taubert was already about to loose his temper before, but now, when this stranger was looking at him with such frank hatred in his eyes, this look infuriated Marcus even more.

The thirst that burned his throat and was slightly quenched by Lina flared up with renewed vigor.

The man's eyes turned black, all he wanted was to grab this upstart and absorb all his energy without a trace until the lifeless body of this noisy mushroom crashed to the floor like a bag with some dirty ground soil.

That's just... Marcus froze, his rage instantly waned, giving way to confusion and surprise. He narrowed his eyes slightly, no, everything was all right with his sight. Something was wrong with this guy.

For many decades, a man learned to control his weaknesses, and saw different things. He knew how the energy of an ordinary person differed from the energy of a person who had abilities. He saw the aura of Elena, David, the aura of children who were clearly not ordinary people.

But he had never seen anything like it. The young man was standing in front of him, and Marcus distinctly heard the beating of his heart.

But... there was nothing besides that. Absolutely nothing. There wasn't even a teeny tiny light symbolizing that life was flowing in him.

The body of Nick in the eyes of Marcus looked dark and empty, which happens only... with the dead.

"Who are you?" the man asked, not hiding his surprise and curiosity.

Nick grinned and squinted his eyes gloatingly, "I have no desire to get acquainted with you, Mr. Taubert. I'll ask you to leave me and the girl alone," a young man hissed, clearly demonstrating his dislike for Marcus.

The man looked at Lina, but she was looking down and ignored him. Marcus didn't say anything anymore, turned and walked away.