Marcus sighed, avoiding Kat's gaze. Katherine was the kindest human he'd ever met. So unbelievably sweet that she turned his former demon friend into a human after she accidentally summoned him over a year before. Nex was frustrated at first but it didn't take him long to fall under her spell and after a long and difficult road, Nex managed to return to the mortal realm as a human and now lived with Katherine in her house and was trying to navigate human life.

Nex also was sick of Kat's persistence. He rolled his eyes but stayed silent as Kat stared at Marcus pleadingly while Marcus avoided looking at her. It didn't help. Marcus could feel her staring at him from across the kitchen table. He still tried, avoiding looking at her until he couldn't take it anymore and finally brought his eyes to hers. Mistake. She was giving him puppy-dog eyes with bright green eyes no one could say no to.

"Stop," he groaned.

"Marcus," Kat whined. "She clearly needs help, you're really going to leave her alone and hope she kills herself? That's not you. She needs a friend."

"I'm not friend material," Marcus snapped. "It's not my fault she won't get professional help."

"Marcus you can't leave her alone," Kat persisted. "You'll feel so bad if she kills herself."

"Who cares?" Nex groaned. "It's one human. Let her kill herself, it helps solve the overpopulation problem on this planet."

"Nex," Kat scolded, sending him a glare.

"What?" Nex asked innocently. "It's true. And why are you taking this girl's side? She summoned Marcus to kill her," he said, gesturing to Marcus. "That's a fucked up reason to summon a demon. If she wants to die, she shouldn't make someone else perform the act."

"You're being so heartless," Kat frowned. "She's clearly troubled and something is up if her house was torn apart. She needs a friend," she said, bringing her gaze back to Marcus. "If you won't help her then tell me where she lives, and I'll go myself."

"Katherine," Nex sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why the fuck did you come and tell her this?" Nex hissed at Marcus. "You know she has an insatiable need to make everyone in the world feel better about themselves."

"I had nowhere else to go," Marcus defended, crossing his arms. "I'm stuck in this fucking realm thanks to this stupid girl."

"Marcus," Kat said firmly, making Marcus wince. Kat was so sweet most the time so when she used the stern voice it made everyone anxious. "Either go and check on her or tell me where she lives. You can't just leave someone that's hurting like that alone."

"You better fucking go yourself," Nex snapped at Marcus, "I don't want Katherine going to someone's apartment after it's clearly been trashed by someone."

"I'll be fine," Kat said, rolling her eyes. "It's not like you'd let me go alone anyway."

"Marcus," Nex growled. "You really want Katherine tangled up in this?"

"Fine," Marcus sighed, rising from his chair. "You guys suck," he muttered bitterly, making his way towards the back door.

"Invite her over for dinner!" Kat called out.

"No, fuck no," Nex groaned. "Are you kidding me? No."

"Stop being a baby," Kat said. "I'm serious, Marcus, invite her over!"

"Don't you fucking dare," Nex snapped.

Marcus rolled his eyes, ignoring both and passing through the solid walls before making himself hidden from mortals and letting out his wings. He flew towards Mila's apartment, feeling particularly annoyed that he couldn't even find refuge at Kat's place, a place he normally loved to go to because she always made the best food and made him feel human again, at least a better human than he'd been before. Marcus dropped down into Mila's apartment from the air, gliding through the roof and landing in her front room with a thud.

Mila jumped at the sudden noise and scowled in annoyance when she saw him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the ground with a surprising amount of strength. "Be quiet."

"Mila, open the fucking door!" Someone said, banging on the door.

"Who is that?" Marcus asked, frowning.

"Would you please shut up?" Mila hissed. "I'm pretending I'm not home, idiot. Thanks a lot for making all that noise. Did you come to finally do what you're supposed to?" Mila asked, gliding her finger across her throat like she was slitting it.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?" Marcus hissed. "Is this the person that trashed your apartment?"

"No, for fuck's sake," Mila said, rolling her eyes. "I can't believe I summoned a demon that won't fucking kill me and is also a nosy motherfucker," she grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Mila, open the damn door before I break it down!" The voice came through the door again, followed by more banging.

"Look, this person seems like a problem. Give me his name instead," Marcus reasoned.

"No," Mila snapped. "I'm not letting you kill my brother, psycho."

"Brother?" Marcus repeated, frowning in confusion.

"Mila you have ten seconds before I call Stella," he warned.

"Goddammit," Mila groaned, rising from the floor, Marcus standing with her. "You go away," she hissed at Marcus, opening up her closet and shoving him inside. "I can't let him see you. If he finds out I legitimately summoned a demon, he'll freak. Now piss off," she said, glaring at Marcus before slamming the closet door shut. She took a moment to compose herself, breathing in deeply before opening the front door. "What?" She said flatly.

"Don't 'what' at me with that tone," Terrence scowled, brushing past her and entering the apartment. His eyes widened at the scene inside, the broken objects and shredded couch. He turned to Mila, throwing his arms up. "What the fuck did you get into now?"

"Nothing," Mila sighed, waving her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. What do you want?"

"Don't worry about it? Girl, are you kidding me?" He groaned. "Who trashed your apartment?"

"Seriously, let it go," Mila said, rolling her eyes. "What do you want? I'm busy."

Marcus stepped through the closet, right in front of Terrence and Mila's eyes widened. "You ass, I told you to stay in there!" She hissed.

"What?" Terrence frowned, following her line of sight to... nothing. Just the closet. "Do you have someone in the closet? Please tell me you don't have someone in the closet."

Mila frowned in confusion, looking between her brother and the demon she summoned, the demon that was standing right in front of her brother but he somehow didn't seem to notice.

"I can choose who I'm visible to," Marcus said, narrowing his eyes at her. "Next time don't push me in the fucking closet."

"I swear to God, Mila. If there's some asshole in here," Terrence grumbled, walking over to the closet and yanking it open. He frowned, finding nothing except the usual mess he expected from his younger sister. He glanced back at her in concern. "There's nothing there."

"I know, I wasn't talking to anyone," Mila said, laughing nervously.

"You weren't talking to anyone?" Terrence repeated, crossing his arms. "Ah shit, Mila," he said, his frustration fading and concern taking its place. "Please tell me you're not seeing things like mom did at the beginning."

"No, oh my God!" Mila said, covering her face. "I was talking to myself, okay? Geeze."

"Mila..." Terence said, his brows furrowing in concern.

"Terry, I'm serious," she said flatly. "I was just talking shit, you know how crazy I am."

"Don't do that," Terry said, shaking his head. "I never said you were crazy."

"Oh well, you didn't have to, did you?" Mila said bitterly, wrapping her arms around herself.

"We're back to this, huh?" He said. Mila said nothing with her words, only with the anger in her eyes that masked the hurt Terry still felt bad for putting there.

"What do you want?" Mila asked, tapping her foot against the ground. "I have places to be. I have work in a couple hours."

"You didn't come see Stella last night," Terry said, crossing his arms. "Where were you?"

"I didn't plan to see Stella last night," Mila shrugged. "I never promised her or you I was coming."

"So you just, what, got fucked up?" He asked, gesturing to the empty bottles of alcohol on the floor. "Real responsible."

"Last time I checked, you're not my fucking parent," Mila snapped, pushing past him and grabbing the bottles on her way to the kitchen.

"It's not a good habit, Mila," Terry sighed.

"It's not a habit at all, Terrence," Mila shot back.

"Two empty bottles?" He asked doubtfully. "Unless you had someone over, it looks like a habit."

"It's not a habit," Mila snapped, dropping the bottles in the trash. "Why don't you get to the point instead of coming here and judging me like you do every single fucking time? Next time I move, you don't get the address."

Terry made a face but decided not to make the situation more tense than it was. "I need a babysitter Friday night starting at six, will you come?"

"You know I will," Mila said. "Is there a reason you didn't just text me to ask about this?"

Terry sighed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, filling the room with uncomfortable silence before he got the nerve to speak. "Wednesday night, we-"

"No," Mila snapped. The finality and anger in her tone was so firm, Terrence winced slightly.

"Mila, come on," he said. "It's just one nigh-"

"I said no," Mila repeated, walking to the front door and opening it up. "I'll be there Friday, a little before six. Bye."

"Try not to get yourself killed before then," Terry muttered, heading out the door. Mila slammed it angrily the second he was out then let her forehead drop against the door. The tiniest trace of hurt tried to fight its way through the haze of anger but she wouldn't let it. She preferred anger over hurt.

"So you don't have a great relationship with your brother, huh?" Marcus asked, making Mila squeal and jump.

She turned towards him, setting her hand over her racing heart. With all that arguing, she completely forgot he was still there. "You don't know shit from a two second conversation," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Are you going to kill me or not?"

"Didn't your brother just say to try to not get yourself killed?" Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My brother isn't in charge of me and trust me, he'll thank me when it's done," Mila said, walking back to the kitchen and picking out the biggest knife she could find. "Will this work?"

"Like I said, it's not happening," Marcus said, crossing his arms. "Let's solve this another way. Tell me who trashed your apartment, and I'll kill them."

"Let's solve this another way," Mila said mockingly, walking towards him and offering the knife. "Put this knife through my throat and then we'll both be happy."

"Seriously, you need a fucking psychiatrist, not a knife," Marcus said, snatching it from her. Mila's eyes widened when it turned to ash in his hands before he crossed his arms again.

"That was my favorite chopping knife," she whispered, watching the ash slowly descend to the ground in sadness before she glared at Marcus and smacked his arm. "What the hell is wrong with you??"

"You're upset I destroyed a knife you wanted me to kill you with?" Marcus frowned. "I'm not kidding about the psychiatrist. Come on," he said, grabbing her arm. "We're going to the hospital."

"Like fucking hell we are," Mila hissed, grabbing her pocket knife and stabbing Marcus in the hand he held her arm with.

Marcus groaned and released his hold on her arm, pulling his hand back and yanking the knife out, glaring at her as he reduced that to ash as well. The wound on his hand healed almost immediately but still stung and he flexed his hand, looking at her in annoyance.

"Stop destroying my stuff, what the fuck!" Mila said, trying to catch the ashes as if that would bring her knife back. "You better have a way to bring that back, asshole."

"Mila," Marcus sighed in frustration, rubbing his hands over his face. "I can't hurt you, okay? I'll get in trouble for it. There's gotta be someone you hate more than you. Just pick a fucking name and we won't have to interact ever again."

"As much as I'd love that idea, you're not off the hook," Mila said flatly. "Kill me or stay stuck here forever, your choice."

Marcus growled and curled his fists together tightly, glaring down at her. He didn't know a way out, but Nex did suggest one thing. Make her life a living hell until she got sick of him. At this point, he was willing to try anything. He hated being stuck in a blood bond with a human like this and he didn't have all his normal powers until he was released from that bond. She trapped him and he didn't care what he had to do to get out of that trap.

"I will make your life miserable," Marcus warned. "If you don't give me someone to kill, I will make your life so fucking miserable."

"I gave you a name, devil-boy," Mila said simply, crossing her arms. "Take it or leave it."

"I am not killing you," Marcus snapped. "Give me another name. Surely there's someone else you hate."

"I'm not changing my mind," Mila shrugged.

"Fine," Marcus said, narrowing his eyes. "Then prepare for a miserable life. I will follow you everywhere, I will make everyone think you're crazy, I won't leave you alone even for a fucking shower, Mila. I'll be standing right there with you," he said, crossing his arms and smiling smugly, thinking he'd won.

"That's fine," Mila said. "Everyone thinks I'm crazy anyway and besides," she said, grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it off, leaving Marcus staring at her with wide eyes. "I'm not ashamed of my body," she shrugged. "I have a damn nice one," she added with a wink before turning around and walking towards her bathroom, unclipping her bra as she left Marcus staring after her bare back, struggling to remember how to breathe. "You coming or not, devil-boy? I have a water bill to pay. I draw the line at you increasing my utility payment. Then we will have a problem and I will make your life miserable."

She unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them down her legs as she walked into the bathroom and out of sight. Marcus stared at the open bathroom door with wide eyes, opening and closing his mouth but unable to say or do anything. The water turned on and he growled in frustration, heading towards the bathroom to make good on what he said but freezing when he saw the pile of clothes laying on the floor.

He glanced up at the shower curtain, the only thing keeping her naked body from him. He walked away, then walked back, then walked away again, letting out another frustrated growl before flying through the apartment ceiling and as far away from her as he could get.