Marcus was not going to honor Mila's demand that he not enter the house. In fact, the more she threatened him, the better the idea sounded. He followed her in, wondering what in the world her and her brother were discussing but eventually getting bored and moving on from them. He had good enough hearing as a demon that he'd be able to hear them from anywhere in the house, so decided to explore.

He walked into the living room and then into the study connected to it. Inside the study was a messy desk with a computer, a mug with coffee stains and a chip in the handle, and piles and piles of paperwork and mail. Marcus walked over to the desk, the first opened mail catching his eye because of the name on it. It was a medical bill, treatment for a patient named Estella. Estella was awfully close to Stella, the person he'd been trying to find out about from Mila.

Under that bill was another medical bill from a different facility, then another one. Marcus went through several stacks of bills with alarmingly high numbers attached to them before he finally reached one that wasn't a medical bill. It was still a bill though, an overdue bill. Under that was another one and much like the medical bills, it seemed to be endless.

Marcus set down the bills with a frown and glanced around the room, a wall of pictures catching his eye. He approached the wall, seeing a framed picture that had a much younger looking Mila, Terrence, a small child, and two people that must've been their parents. Mila looked more like her mom than her dad, but he could see both. Other pictures on the wall held a lot of Mila and Terry together or Mila and Terry with the little girl. They were all family photos, but they also all seemed to be from a few years ago. Nothing recent.

Marcus wondered on it and circled around the room, looking at various things before giving up and heading out to the living room. He could hear movement in the kitchen that must've been Mila, but now there was a small child sitting on the couch, playing with Mila's phone, tubes leading up into her nostrils and tucked behind her ears.

Marcus circled around the couch and leaned against the wall near the TV, crossing his arms and watching the little girl. Was she their sister? She looked like she could be. She looked a lot like a younger version of Mila, actually and she was in all the family photos, she had to be a sibling.

The little one coughed a few times and winced, her breathing coming out shallower afterwards. She sniffled and rubbed her nose with the end of her sleeve then set Mila's phone down and looked up. The second she did, her eyes landed directly on Marcus.

Marcus tensed but tried not to. She couldn't see him, he was hidden. Except she was looking right in his eyes, frowning like she wasn't sure if she should be scared or not. She tilted her head to the side, examining him from head to toe. All Marcus could do was stare at her in confusion.

Mila walked back in the room with a glass in her hand and the little girl looked over at her. "Is he your friend?"

"What?" Mila frowned. "Is who my friend?"

"Him," the little girl repeated, pointing directly at Marcus.

Marcus's eyes widened and mouth fell open in shock. She could see him. She could see him and Mila couldn't. That didn't make sense. Mila seemed confused and concerned and so Marcus let the shield fall so he was visible again. As soon as Mila saw him, he swore she wished she could kill him.

"Hey, asshole, I told you not to come in this house," Mila hissed. "And why the hell are you making yourself visible to her and not me?"

"Swear jar! Swear jar two times!" The little girl clapped. "I love when sissy comes over because then the swear jar fills up real fast and I get to buy something," she informed Marcus, grinning.

Marcus stared at the child, still in shock. That was the thing, he shouldn't have been visible to the little girl. He was staying hidden from everyone, hoping to learn something about Mila he could use to settle an arrangement with her. He wasn't expecting to be outed by a kid and it didn't make sense. He'd been around plenty of children without them noticing. Some occasionally felt strange in a way they couldn't explain, but none could just see him while he was hidden.

"Hey," Mila snapped, setting the glass down and walking over to Marcus, clapping in front of his face to get his attention. "Have you lost your fucking mind? Stop trying to scare her."

"Oh, the 'f' word is five dollars to the swear jar!" The little one said gleefully.

"I wasn't trying to scare her," Marcus hissed. "I don't know why she can see me, she shouldn't be able to."

"What?" Mila frowned.

"Why shouldn't I be able to see you?" The little girl asked curiously.

"You're telling me you were hiding from both of us?" Mila asked. Marcus nodded, shrugging uselessly. He also didn't understand. "Well why can she see you then?"

"I've got no fucking clue," Marcus said and the little girl squealed and clapped again.

"Another five dollars!"

"Oh my God," Mila said, smacking her hand over her forehead.

"So it is your friend sissy?" The girl asked.

"He's... Fuck," she whispered, quietly enough Stella didn't hear. The last thing she needed was Terry thinking Mila was just dragging in random people without asking him.

"Hi," Stella said, waving at Marcus. "I'm Stella."

"You're Stella?" Marcus asked, his brows drawing together. He looked at Stella, then Mila, then back and forth a few times. Mila said she needed to die for Stella, he couldn't figure out how in the hell a little girl would need Mila to die.

"Mhm, I'm eight," she said, holding up eight fingers. "What's your name?"

"You really fucked me over," Mila whispered, glaring at Marcus before addressing her sister with a much friendlier smile. "This is Marcus, baby. He wasn't supposed to be here," she said, sending Marcus a glare and jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow, making him groan. "Can we keep just a tiny secret from Terry?"

"Terry said no secrets," Stella said, shaking her head adamantly. "Secrets don't make friends, sissy."

Mila sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. It didn't look good, her bringing a guy over when she was babysitting her little sister. Stella would say something to Terry and Terry would lose it on her, and the worst part was there was nothing she could do now. After sending Marcus another unfriendly glare, she made her way over to the couch and plopped down next to Stella. She mouthed 'I fucking hate you' at Marcus before deciding to ignore him as she turned to her sister.

"Don't mind him," Mila said, gesturing at Marcus. "What makeup do you wanna do?"

"Umm I'm going to do purple," Stella said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a purple eyeshadow. "Your eyes look pretty with purple."

"Aw, thanks," Mila said with a warm smile the likes of which Marcus had never seen on her. She was always sarcastic, blunt and loud. To see her sitting there next to a little girl talking in a much softer tone was completely unexpected and he couldn't identify the emotions floating around in his head.

Stella looked over at Marcus curiously. She chewed on her lip, looked around, then picked up a candy off the end table and held it up to Marcus. "Do you want a candy?"

Mila glared back at him like she wanted him to say no, to leave and not come back. Marcus wondered how in the hell she could expect him to say no to a polite child with candy and tubes sticking out of her. She was sick. She had to be. People didn't carry around oxygen tanks for the fun of it.

"Sure," Marcus said, walking forward and letting her place the candy in his hand.

She grinned up at him and scooted closer to Mila, patting the space behind her. "You can sit with us."

Mila sighed but said nothing. She also couldn't say no to Stella and more importantly, she couldn't say the violent thoughts streaming through her head that mostly revolved around cussing Marcus out and strangling him. Stella slid off the couch, coughed a little again. Mila leaned forward, her hands hovering over Stella uselessly while Stella's cough got worse. Mila recognized the sound when Stella coughed something up and reached over for one of the many boxes of tissues that were in every single corner of the house.

"Here baby," Mila said, bringing the tissue in front of Stella's mouth.

Stella took the tissue and spit globs of yellow and green that came up. She closed the tissue but Mila took it, checking the color and getting worried at what she saw. Yellow and green weren't a good sign.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she said, her words coming out breathily as she struggled to get air back in her lungs.

"Do you need help?" Mila asked.

"No, I don't need help," Stella said, grabbing her oxygen tank and making her way to the hallway bathroom. Mila sighed, watching her little sister slowly shuffle towards the hallway, her breathing way too hard.

The moment Marcus heard the bathroom door close, he turned to face Mila but her purse was already on its way to hitting him in the chest. "Dude, what the fuck did you miss about not being welcome here??"

"What did you miss about me following you everywhere?" He countered.

"Ugh, you're horrible," Mila said, smacking him with her purse one more time, then crossing her arms and glaring across the room. "My brother is going to lose his shit when he finds out you were here. We don't bring just anyone around my baby sister, you dick."

"Stella is your baby sister," Marcus said. Mila nodded, giving him a look that said 'duh'. "Why the fuck would she need you to die?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you," Mila said, narrowing her eyes. "Get the fuck out of here before my brother decides I can't see my sister anymore."

"Give me a name and I will," Marcus shrugged, leaning back against the couch. "Seriously, I'm not getting how your death could possibly help your sister. It would just make her sad. Are you that depressed that you can't see how much that would hurt her?"

"If you don't stop talking, I'm going to break your nose," Mila warned.

"You could try," Marcus said, propping his feet on the coffee table and lacing his fingers behind his head. "Good luck."

Mila glared at him, then decided to try, not at all surprised when her fist went right through him instead of making contact. He didn't even seem to care, just looked over at her, raising one eyebrow and giving her a look that said 'nice try'.

"You're going to get me in trouble," Mila whined. "My brother will be so mad."

"Sounds like a personal problem to me," Marcus shrugged.

"Asshole," Mila hissed.

"Demon," he corrected, gesturing to himself. "What did you expect?"

"Honestly? I expected you to fucking kill me that first night."

"Yeah, well, no one's happy I guess," Marcus said, glancing back toward the hallway with a frown. Stella seemed very sick. Marcus's eyes drifted back to Mila who looked like she was thinking of eight different ways to kill him. Still, he had to ask. "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing," Mila snapped. "She's perfect."

"I meant why is she using an oxygen tank," Marcus said, rolling his eyes.

"She's sick," Mila said, her voice quieter than he ever heard.

She avoided his eyes and he frowned, glancing back at the hallway one more time before focusing on Mila. "Sick with what?"

"Don't pretend you care," Mila huffed, crossing her arms.

"Mila," Marcus growled, making her stiffen. "How is she sick?"

Mila stayed quiet and Marcus thought she wouldn't respond. Then the word came out quietly, he probably would've missed it if he was a human. "Lymphoma," she said, her hands tightening into fists. "Cancer in the lymphatic system."

Marcus swallowed, looking away. He suspected something wrong, but he wasn't expecting that. "What stage?"

"She just got moved into four," Mila whispered, standing from her spot on the couch. "It's in her lungs and now it's looking like it's in her skin, too. I'm going to check on her."

Mila walked out of the room and Marcus was left with nothing but to stare blankly at the wall. Stage four cancer was never good. The odds weren't great and although Stella seemed happy, she also seemed very sick. Marcus sighed and threw his head back against the couch. What still didn't make sense was why Mila thought her death could possibly help her sister, or why Stella was able to see him when she shouldn't be able to.

"Excuse me," Stella said. Marcus looked down, seeing her standing there with a frown, hands on her hips. "No feet on the coffee table. I'll let it go because you've never been here, but don't let it happen again," she said, wagging her finger in disapproval.

Marcus cleared his throat and slowly brought his feet down, somehow feeling embarrassed he was scolded by a child. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she said, her sweet smile and bright personality bouncing right back. "Just don't do it again."

"Fair enough," Marcus agreed, watching as she dragged her oxygen tank over then climbed up on the couch.

Stella rested back against the couch, making a face and clutching her chest. When she breathed out again, it was wheezing. Marcus glanced around for Mila, unsure what to do but worried something was wrong. Mila came in a second later with an inhaler in hand. She crouched down in front of Stella and helped her sit up, then brought the inhaler to her lips.

"Okay baby, two puffs, ready?" She said, rubbing Stella's back. Stella nodded and Mila released the first puff. Stella tried to breathe it in but only ended up going into a coughing fit. Mila handed her tissues and Marcus watched as the little girl coughed up more mucus than he thought she should physically be capable of holding.

As soon as Stella got a better hold of her breathing and stopped coughing, Mila brought the inhaler up again. "Let's try again, okay?"

"Okay," Stella agreed, a little whistle following her breath.

The attempt the second time went better, and after a few minutes, the wheezing eased up enough they couldn't hear it anymore. Stella sunk back against the couch with heavy eyelids, tired from the coughing fit.

"Maybe we should take a little nap, huh?" Mila suggested, putting an arm over Stella's shoulders.

"No," Stella said, stubbornly shaking her head. "I want to do makeup."

"Well, we have time," Mila pointed out. "We can do it later."

"No, I'm okay," Stella said determinedly, sitting up and reaching for her makeup bag.

"Gloves," Mila reminded her.

Stella nodded and put the gloves on, reaching for the purple eye shadow but stopping. She looked over at Marcus curiously and he did his best to smile at her. He didn't know how normal people smiled at children, he'd never had to do it before.

"You would look nice with makeup," Stella said, turning towards him. "Can I do yours?"

Marcus eyes widened in both shock and horror. Makeup on him? The idea was insane. He normally would've said no instantly. But the little girl who was struggling to breathe, even with the help of her oxygen, stared up at him with big, brown, hopeful eyes. He opened his mouth in an attempt to say no, but he couldn't do it. She had big eyes for a human, at least it certainly felt that way in the moment.

Marcus sighed, glad that none of his demon friends were nearby to see this. "Sure, go ahead."

Mila raised her eyebrows in surprise, looking at him curiously. He scowled and rolled his eyes, muttering a curse under his breath as Stella dug through her makeup bag, looking for the colors she thought would compliment his hair, skin and eyes.

Stella decided on warm colors for Marcus, picking red and brown for his eyeshadow and black for his eyeliner. She got them all out and raised her hands up to Marcus's face, her fingers on his short, trimmed beard. She turned his face down towards her, a smile tugging on her lips. "Your beard is soft."

"Is it?" Marcus asked, not sure why he was feeling embarrassed but he was. Children were certainly forward.

"Yeah," Stella nodded. "Does it tickle your face?"

"Not really," Marcus shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"That's good," she said, picking up the brown eyeshadow first. "Close your eyes."

Marcus sighed, unable to believe he was really doing this but knowing there was no way in hell or earth or any other realm he could possibly say no to her.

What felt like hours later, Stella was all done. She beamed up at Marcus, looking so unbelievably happy that his annoyance of playing doll for the night wore off pretty easily. "You look so handsome!" Stella exclaimed, reaching into her bag for her handheld mirror. She dug it out and turned it towards Marcus. "See?"

Marcus was hesitant to look in the mirror, but relented. It wasn't as bad as he was afraid of, but he couldn't say much else. It was obvious a child did his makeup.

"The colors are nice," he said. He could at least say that honestly.

"They look so good on you!" Stella said, glancing back at Mila. "Don't they look good on him?"

"They do," Mila agreed, a smile pulling on her lips. She was still mad at Marcus for coming in, but seeing him entertain her sister and make her happy was doing things to her. Things she didn't know what to think of.

"Okay, we'll do your nails next," Stella announced, reaching in the back for her nail polish.

"Nail polish?" Marcus repeated, feeling the last shred of his demon badassness slipping away from him in the form of an unfairly adorable and very sick child. She might as well have put a leash on him at this point, he was fucked.

"Mhm, I think we'll do black because I think that fits your vibe," she said, gesturing to his general self as a whole. "Is that okay?"

Marcus was convinced it couldn't just be him that couldn't say no. Those big eyes stared up at him again and he felt all pride and resistance slipping away. At this point, it was easier to just let it go and give in because hell knew he couldn't fucking say no to her.

"Sure, that's fine," he agreed, holding out his hands.

Stella grinned at him and another part of him melted away. Damn her.

By the end of the night, Marcus had lipstick added to his makeup, and then Stella decided that she should put tiny heart stickers on the thumbs of his black nails. Marcus sat there helplessly, wondering how it was such a small child could have him by the balls so easily. It was unnatural. In combat, she wouldn't stand a chance, but eye to eye, he apparently didn't stand a chance.

Stella finished up, only pausing her dutiful work when Mila interrupted her to remind her to drink her smoothie and drink water. At one point, Stella was fidgeting a lot, clearly uncomfortable. Marcus didn't know why until Mila pulled her sleeves back and rubbed cream into a rash on her arms. It was the first and only time the whole night Stella showed how much pain she was in. Her eyes pricked with tears, only easing up when Mila covered her arms again and brought out cold washcloths to ease the burning and stinging. It was at that point Stella asked Marcus if she could put lipstick on him, and her teary eyes were even harder to say no to than they were before. That was how he ended up with a dark red lipstick on his lips.