First Demonic Dragon - Chapter 1143: No Place Like Home
Chapter 1143: No Place Like Home
Odie took her time getting out of the car.
She had to make sure that her facial expressions were impeccable and that her eyes weren’t red and puffy.
The very last thing she wanted was for her little incident just now to result in another family sit-down. It would only make K’ael hate her more and increase the tensions around the house.
Sighing, Odessa slapped herself on the cheeks twice for good luck before she entered the house.
Coming in through the garage door, Odessa arrived within the east wing.
The layout of the estate was a bit similar to the last home they had in Tehom.
The West Wing was for children, the Central for Abaddon, Ayaana, and Zahara, and the East was for extended family. However, different amenities were spread throughout.
Sometimes, Odie had friends over, but it was rare.
She felt weird bringing people over when her house was so… atypical.
It often changed the dynamic of her friendships, so she felt she was better off only seeing her friends in the setting of the school grounds.
As soon as she entered her home, Odessa smelled food cooking.
That wasn’t necessarily rare for this time of day, but it was odd to smell it this strongly.
If Odessa hadn’t just eaten at school, she would have certainly been tempted, but instead, she ran to her room as quietly as possible.
It was difficult to stick to the shadows and not get caught with everyone who lived in her house running about, but somehow she managed to do it.
Almost.
While creeping up the steps, Odessa ran smack into a woman in leggings and a cropped t-shirt that read, ’That Bitch’.
The woman stared down at Odessa with an unreadable gaze that made her feel slightly small.
’H-Hello, Aunt Lillith.’
The demoness blinked. “Sneaking around the house when it’s still light out? Who did you murder?”
’N-Nobody!’
“Is there a boy in your room?”
’N-No!’
“A girl?”
’I’m still a virgin and I’m saving myself for marriage!’
“Boring.”
Lillith rolled her eyes and started walking past Odessa. Though not before she kissed the girl on top of her head affectionately and continued her descent down the stairs.
The demoness waved at her without looking back.
“Be sure to call me if you change your mind and need help understanding contraceptives.”
’I will!’
Now that she was in the clear, Odie ran to her room as fast as she could and shut the door.
She placed her head against the wooden frame and sighed in sweet relief.
“What are we hiding from?”
’Aaahh!’
Odie fell against her door with her heart beating wildly in her chest.
Izanami was sprawled across Odessa’s bedroom floor with her nose buried in a magazine. She lifted her head and stared at her daughter with a questionable look.
“…With a reaction like that, I feel like I should be checking your bag for drugs or strange amounts of money.”
“Or gang paraphernalia.” Lailah added from Odie’s bed.
“Right, or gang paraphernalia.” Izanami nodded in agreement.
Odie sighed as she began trying to pick herself up off the floor. ’I don’t have any of that stuff, mamas. Just homework and notebooks.’
It slowly dawned on Odessa that two of her parents were just occupying her bedroom as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
’Umm… What are you guys doing in here?’
“Checking on you, mostly.”
“You stayed in the garage for thirty minutes after your brother came home. And you didn’t come find any of us when you got inside like you normally do.”
Odessa rubbed the back of her head shyly. ’O-Oh, well, you know, I just had homework and stuff, plus I was just checking out some of the cars in the garage and seeing which one I wanted when I finally get my license!’
Izanami and Lailah looked at each other briefly before they burst into twin spells of laughter.
Odessa frowned. ’What’s funny!?’
“Oh, baby, your big sister ruined any chance of something like that happening.” Lailah grinned as she wiped a tear from her eye. “That challenger in the garage is hers, and it’s got about five speeding tickets on it’s record.”
“We’re going to start you off with something a little bit more lemon-y first. Then, after two years, if you have no accidents and no tickets, we’ll buy you whatever you want. But we’re not exactly holding our breath.”
Odessa looked towards the desk in her room.
There, she could see a photograph of herself as an infant, surrounded by a group of smiling young women.
Her eyes settled on the young asian woman holding her tightly, their faces cheek to cheek.
Missing someone you didn’t actually remember was one of the strangest feelings in the world.
These feelings Odessa had lived with for so long had cemented her belief that family wasn’t just a genetic bond, but a deeply spiritual one.
It made what was happening with her brother all the more upsetting.
’…I bet if she were here she would have taught me to drive.’
Lailah suddenly put her notebook down when she noticed the forlorn way her daughter sounded. “She probably would have… By chance, did you and your brother get into it again?”
Odessa shook her head too hard to be convincing. ’N-No, of course not! Actually, we had a super great conversation! I really think we’re on our way to patching things up!’
The young princess was great at many things. Lying just wasn’t one of them.
Lailah got out of bed, a clearly annoyed look on her face. “That boy… It’s been a year now, that’s enough of this already. I have half a mind to-”
’Mom, please don’t say anything!’ Odessa grabbed her mother by her hands and pleaded. ’I want to fix this on my own! If you say something to him, it’ll just make things worse than they already are!’
Lailah’s brow furrowed. “Baby, I don’t have the patience for this type of carrying on. Siblings shouldn’t fight like this, and the quicker that we get everything solved, the quicker that you two can go back to loving on each other.”
’But we do still love each other, ma, that’s why he’s mad at me! And I know that if I can just get a chance to make him see my point of view, then we’ll be fine!’
Odessa gave her mother’s hands a firm squeeze. ’Please, don’t say anything to him. Just let us deal with this on our own.’
Lailah was beside herself. With Odessa not wanting her to intervene so desperately, she was feeling the absence of her firstborn son and daughter more than ever.
She knew for a fact that if they were here, they would have inserted themselves into this conflict long ago and gotten it all sorted out.
She would have given anything for all of her children to be back under one roof.
The last thing she ever could have predicted was that her fleeting little wish would actually bear fruit…
