The next chapter isn't going so great, so here's a little teaser/filter.

Chapter 27.5

The girl watched as the man she'd always thought to be her father threw at her new sister a dark gift. It didn't frighten her: nothing really did after facing death enough times for the Angel of Death to be her surrogate father and best friend.

She watched her sister gasp, then frail around. Her father signaled for her to move, so she did. Together, they watched the woman take the dark powers within her body.

"Time for me to leave, little one. Stay by her, she'll protect you once she recovers." Lucifer knelt down to be at the girl's level.

The girl looked between the two adults. "She's coughing her guts out." Her deadpan tone and blank eyes clearly demonstrated her thoughts before she voiced them. "I think I'll be the one protecting her today." Her expression was suddenly overtaken with a form of pride Lucifer rarely saw (he didn't often deal with children). The pride of a child's first responsibility, and the complete loyalty to the task.

Lucifer nodded, keeping his confusion aside. "Well... have fun, little one. Remember, only time will tell." With each syllable he tapped his nose in the universal signal for keeping a secret. The girl copied, though didn't fully understand what it meant.

With that, Lucifer disappeared. The girl returned to hiding beneath her new sister's robes. She placed her arms around one of her larger sister's legs, and channeled through as much positive energy she could. Relatively, it wasn't much, as the young angel was quite small and entirely untrained. It was enough though.

For a moment, her new sister seemed to regain her consciousness, then a sharp noise startled the little girl. The winds changed, and she was suddenly downwind of a horrendous smell that spiked unexplainable fear throughout her body. Panic swelled within her chest, and she started to sprint to hide behind a tree.

As soon as she left her sister, it became clear Bella had been relying upon the gifted energy, most probably, unknowingly.

Bella began to sway uncontrollably, nearly falling flat at one point, but the little girl watched as the creature ran towards her new sister.

This is it, she thought, I'm going to have to fend for myself anyway now. I endangered my old carer so much she had to give me to the Lord of Death, then I troubled him so much I've had to be put into hiding. I'm such a failure. The words rattled in her own mind, moving faster and faster until it felt like she was being punched over and over. No longer able to stand it, yet seemingly frozen in place as time slowed for her to watch the creature attack her sister, she pushed on through while her mind screamed in pain. She sped towards her new sister, and reached her just as the creature did.

The smell from him burned her nostrils, and made her feel physically sick while everything in her was telling her to run; to run far away and never look back.

Ignoring it was the greatest struggle she'd faced in her life.

Stopping inches before reaching her sister, she frozen again and watched as the creature caught her sister with an arm and started to take her weight while checking for injuries.

The little girl's eyes were wide with shock, then slowly morphed into an angry, yet confused stare. "You're... you're a... vampire's mate? You're a sick traitor, deserving only of the Phoenix!" The girl's tantrum continued on with other profanities, yet fell on deaf ears as Bella had passed out, after sliding down my mate's side, into a heap on her knees.