Silence wasn't something Marcus or Mila was used to around each other. If one wasn't talking, the other was. Silence never passed between them but as they stood in that bedroom, Lilith's words hanging in the air like an overpowering tension ready to burst, silence reigned.

"She didn't..." Mila trailed off, her voice cracking and coming out so much smaller than Marcus had grown used to. "She didn't mean that," she said, blinking away the tears and bringing her gaze to Marcus. "Tell me she didn't mean it. Tell me she's just fucking with me because that's what demons do."

Marcus swallowed, barely able to meet her eyes and unable to answer the question.

"Tell me it isn't real, Marcus," Mila said, her voice getting a little louder with the first statement while the next only came out as a whisper. "Tell me it's not. Tell me my baby sister is not going to die."

Crying wasn't something demons did. Crying showed weakness. It implied there were emotions more complex than what most considered possible. Marcus only vaguely remembered crying one time. The day his mother died. He hadn't since.

Until that moment.

The sting that came was like a distant memory, opening up a heart he didn't want to acknowledge was still there because he didn't feel he deserved it, but there it was. The stinging was almost unbearable to eyes that weren't used to crying.

"Say something," Mila said in exasperation. "Say anything as long as it's some form of telling me that bitch is full of shit."

"I can't," Marcus finally managed to get out, his voice hoarse as he held back the tears. "I can't tell you that."

Mila shook her head, more tears coming down her face. "No." Marcus swallowed, willing his own tears to stay inside. "No," Mila repeated more firmly. "I don't accept that. She doesn't know anything. You don't know anyth-"

She paused, her downward spiral halting as more of what Lilith said sunk in. Marcus's guilty expression told her that part of it was true, too. He knew Stella was going to die, and he didn't tell her.

"You knew?" She whispered. Marcus yearned to reach out for her, to brush away the tears and pull her into his arms, to comfort her through her grief, but instead he stayed where he was. The only thing he could offer was a nod. "Yes, you knew?" Mila repeated. Marcus nodded. "Use your fucking words, Marcus."

Marcus sighed, reluctantly meeting her gaze. "Yes, I knew."

Mila's sharp inhalation quivered and she set her hand over her chest, where her heart felt like it was just splitting through and through, in every direction. It wasn't until she had to gasp she realized she stopped breathing. There was a high chance she was about to fall apart and she wrapped her arms around herself in the hopes that would make her stay together. It didn't.

"Take me somewhere," she said quietly.

Marcus frowned. "What?"

"Take me somewhere where I can yell," she said, her voice coming through stronger as she glared at him. "Because I want to fucking yell at you but I'm not going to do it where she can... Where she can..."

The words caught in Mila's throat and a strangled cry came out instead. She didn't mean to sink to the ground, nor did she even fully process she was on the ground until she had to brace her hands against the floor as the sobs wrenched through her body. Stella was going to die. Stella was going to die and there was nothing Mila could do.

Marcus moved towards her, reached a hand out for her shoulder but didn't actually make contact. He wasn't sure she wanted it. He wanted it. He wanted to comfort her, but he had a feeling his comfort was the last thing she wanted.

Instead, he stepped back and brought a shadow around them. He brushed his own tears away before she could see. She was crying too hard herself to notice his escaped. "There," Marcus said, his voice nearly cracking. "It'll keep the sound in. Be as loud as you need to be."

The next sob that escaped Mila was much worse and Marcus was helpless to the tears escaping him as well. It sounded like she was breaking and he couldn't stand the sound. Mila slammed her fist against the ground and screamed out all her frustration. It wasn't supposed to end this way. They were supposed to find the perfect treatment that healed Stella. Stella was supposed to grow up, steal Mila's clothes and drive Terry crazy by sneaking out of the house until she was old enough to go off to college somewhere, or maybe start her own business, or maybe travel or something but not this. Never this.

Mila's grief only got louder and Marcus couldn't take it. He wiped his tears away and crouched next to her, setting his hand on her back as the words came out shaky and hardly audible. "I'm sorry, Mila. I'm so sorry."

Part of Mila wanted to lean into him, but her heart was breaking and she couldn't take it. She'd take any distraction from the pain she could and Marcus was a distraction. Except it wouldn't be a distraction like she wanted before. She was mad.

"Don't touch me," she snapped, shoving his hand away and scrambling to her feet. Brushing away the tears hardly helped anything because they wouldn't stop coming. "You knew since when? How long did you know she was going to die?"

Marcus swallowed, slowly rising to his feet. "Since a few weeks before Chicago."

"A few weeks before Chicago?" Mila repeated, her eyes going wide. That was a while ago. He'd known all this time. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't..." Marcus started but stopped. The heart he wasn't even sure was still there until she made him feel it wasn't feeling so good anymore. Now he was only convinced it was there because it couldn't hurt this bad if it wasn't there. "I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't..."

"You didn't know how to tell me?" Mila repeated, shaking her head. "Here's an idea. Just fucking tell me!"

"It wouldn't have changed anything," Marcus said helplessly. "You can't stop it from happening."

"What kind of reasoning is that?? You still should've told me! She's my sister!" Mila's voice cracked at the end and she began pacing back and forth. "You just sat there, watching me work my ass off for nothing. Watching me miss time with her while I worked extra for apparently no fucking reason."

"I'm sorry," Marcus whispered.

"Sorry isn't enough, Marcus, she's going to—" Mila gestured to Stella's room but she couldn't say the words again. The more it sunk in, the more it felt like she was being torn apart from the inside out.

"I know it's not enough." Marcus eyes went downcast and he swallowed back a lump, refusing to let anymore tears out. "So let me do something right. Let me take care of Dallas for you, then you at least won't have that to worry about."

"Dallas?" Mila breathed, her brows furrowing. "Are you serious? That's what you're going to bring up right now?"

"It gets me and him out of your hair," Marcus said, raising his gaze to hers, fixating on her eyes because as soon as she agreed, he'd never seen them again, and he never wanted to forget them. "You have enough to think about. Let me fix a problem that actually can be fixed."

"We're not fucking talking about Dallas, Marcus," Mila said, throwing her arms up.

"We should be. He threatened you and Stella. You don't need another thing to worry about and Stella needs you to be around. Especially right now." Those words made Mila shake her head again. She couldn't focus. There was too much information and her heart was aching something horrible. "You know nothing will stop this from happening so you don't need his money anymore," Marcus continued. "Just let me kill him and—"

"Fine!" Mila snapped. "Kill him! Then explain to me how the fuck you justified knowing my sister was going to die and not telling me. I don't want an 'I'm sorry', I don't want a lame 'I didn't know how to tell you'. I want to know how the fuck, through every scenario you came up with, not telling me seemed like the right thing to do. I thought you..." Mila trailed off, looking away in embarrassment. "I thought you cared about us. I thought you cared about..." Me.

"I do," Marcus said, taking a step towards her but she took one back. He sighed, dropping his arms to his sides. "I do care about you, and Stella. Of course I do. But Mila, this... This was just going to destroy you, like it is right now," he said, gesturing to her. The tears were still coming and she was shaking. Not because she was cold or scared, she wasn't exactly sure why she was shaking. Maybe because her whole world was shaken and her body couldn't stand still knowing it was right on verge of a breakdown. "Then every time you saw her after, you wouldn't be able to look at her. You'd need to walk way to cry. You'd only sit there wondering when it was going to happen because I don't know when, I just know that it will. So instead of making more memories with her that were happy, you'd be waiting for that day, dreading every second and not getting to spend another untainted moment with her."

"You don't know that," Mila breathed, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head. It was all too much. Unbearable. The pain in her chest made breathing feel impossible and for the life of her, she couldn't steady anything. Not her hands, not her tears, not her heartbeat and definitely not her shallow breathing. Stella is going to die. Everything I tried was for nothing. "You don't know that."

"No, I don't," Marcus agreed. "But you don't either. You can't tell me that once you knew, things with her wouldn't have changed."

"Yeah, they would've fucking changed," Mila snapped. "You know how? I would've worked less instead of more. I would've moved in like Terry asked me to. I would've spent every spare second with her before..."

Mila's words trailed off, but she didn't need to finish them. The implication was enough and she buried her face in her hands as more cries shook her body.

"I'm sorry," Marcus whispered, darting his eyes away. "I wasn't trying to hurt you. It... Seemed like there was no winning in how or when I told you."

Mila didn't answer. She couldn't. The crying was out of control and her world was shattering. There was no fantasizing about a life after Stella healed, about being able to take her to the playground again, see her graduate high school, see her fall in love either with herself or with someone else. The future Mila saw, where Stella was in them because not having her in them was unthinkable, it was shattering and there was no stopping it.

Marcus watched her break, his arms aching to wrap around her as long as she needed. But she was upset with him and he didn't blame her. Whether or not he meant to cause harm, he had. He always would. Gabriel and Lilith were right. He was no good for her. Right now, she was in pain, and it was the only thing he would ever bring her, even if he only meant well. The only path he could take that would do anything positive for Mila now would be getting rid of Dallas, and she already agreed to it.

"I'm going to take care of Dallas," Marcus said quietly. "Then you at least won't have that on your mind."

Mila didn't respond, not because she didn't want to but because she had to get ahold of her crying first. Marcus waited in silence only so long before he turned and walked towards the window.

"That's it?" Mila asked quietly, halting Marcus's movement. "You'll kill Dallas, and I'll never see you again?"

Marcus swallowed, fighting the urge to turn towards her. "It would be better for both of us. I'll be free of the bond and you'll... Your attention will be on Stella, as it should be."

Mila frowned, a different ache forming in her chest. Her next words came out without her permission. "How can you just walk away?" She whispered. Marcus briefly closed his eyes, trying to fight against the stinging. "You say you care but you're going to leave during the hardest moment of my life?"

"I'll be here if you want me here, but Mila..." Marcus sighed, hating the words he had to say, hating the way it felt like his heart was being clawed out. "You deserve someone better. You deserve more than I can give you. All I'll do is bring you down with me. You can do better and you should. There are plenty of good men that would want you. Callum wants you. He would be..." Marcus paused briefly, inhaling a deep breath so he wouldn't lose his cool. "He would be better for you."

"Callum? What does he have to do with anything?" Mila asked. "We're not talking about anyone but me and you. No one else is relevant. Don't fucking tell me you care about me then talk bullshit like this."

"It's not bullshit."

"It is bullshit! When you care about someone, you stay. You don't leave when it gets hard but I guess that's what you're doing so go ahead. You want to leave? Fine," she said, gesturing to the window. "Fucking leave. Be a coward. I don't care."

Marcus released a shaky breath. He didn't know what to say. She was angry but that wasn't all it was. She was starting to grieve, and all her emotions were heightened. He couldn't do anything to help her. He would've sold his soul a second time if it meant taking away the pain pulsating in her, but he couldn't. His presence was only making her more upset, so he took another step to the window.

"Was it just fun fucking for you?" Her voice gave him pause again, the words cutting deep because it was never just fucking with her. Even when he tried to convince himself it was at the beginning, it wasn't. She was always more. "It doesn't bother you at all to just walk away when you know my heart is breaking?"

"Of course it bothers me," Marcus said, his fists clenching.

"Then why are you doing it??"

"Because I fucking love you!" Marcus snapped, turning to face her. "I want the best for you, and that's not me. No matter how much I want it to be. I'm a demon, Mila. I have to return to hell. You deserve better. Someone that's not too much of a coward to tell you the truth. Someone that's pure like you are. I'll never be that. I'll only taint you and you fucking deserve better, all right? I love you too much to take you down with me. You've suffered enough, I refuse to have you suffer more in hell with me when you deserve to be somewhere like heaven. Your life has been fucking hard, Mila," Marcus sighed, almost taking a step towards her but then moving back instead. "You deserve a kinder afterlife, and you won't get it with me. You won't get anything but more suffering with me. I wish that wasn't the truth, but it is. So yes, it bothers me to walk away from you, but the idea that I could be taking away the only place you'll be able to reunite with Stella bothers me more when I know she is everything to you. I don't want to walk away from you. I have to, or you'll never get the peaceful afterlife with your sister. I'm sorry, Mila," Marcus said, his voice growing shakier. He took a step back and shook his head, his words echoing even after he vanished from the room. "I'm sorry."