Duplicity by Kristina M Sanchez Read Free Book Online

of her life was done
now, and the nightmares were part of dealing with the things she’d once chased
away with drugs.
    So Lilith was thankful to be dealing with a nightmare. It broke
her heart every time Dana woke up like this. It was difficult to hear her
friend’s incoherent, terrified jabbering as she shook in her arms. But as hard
as it was, seeing her friend this broken was preferable to seeing her climbing
the walls, about to do something dangerous.
    She kept Dana tight in her arms, rocking her and rubbing her back
as she cried. It was twenty minutes before the nightmare released its hold on
her, and she was coherent and stable again.
    Dana buried her head on Lilith’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.” Her voice
was a timorous whisper.
    “Don’t give me that sorry shit. You’re fine.” By now Dana knew she
wasn’t going to put up with self-pity.
    Even though they were the same age, it was nights like these that
made Lilith feel like a much older sister. She wiped the tears off Dana’s
cheeks and hugged her again. “Do you want me to call Mal?”
    Dana shook her head, hiccupping.
    “Okay. Come on.” She stood and tugged at her friend’s hand. “Let’s
go to sleep.”
    Dana followed her like an obedient child, clinging to her hand as
they padded down the hall to the bedroom. Lilith led Dana over to the bed. She
guided her down before finally releasing her hand. They were only separated
long enough for Lilith to get out of her clothes and into the tatty pajama
pants and old t-shirt she used as nightclothes. When Lilith got under the
covers, Dana cuddled up to her.
    “Do you want to talk about it?” Lilith scratched Dana’s head the
way she knew she liked.
    The other girl shook her head no. “Just want to sleep.”
    “Okay.”
    She watched over her friend, scratching her head in a comforting
gesture until the other girl’s breathing evened out. Only when she was sure
Dana’s sleep was peaceful did Lilith allow herself the same luxury.

Chapter 6
     
    Lilith’s thoughts were thick as she tried to figure out what was
going on. There was an urgency somewhere, a reason she
should fight through this fog of sleep. Something was trying to drag her out of
her warm, cozy space.
    And it was annoying.
    Phone. This word had meaning to her. Purpose. She identified
the urgent, annoying thing. It was ringing.
    Her hand shot out from under the blanket, and she groped along the
nightstand until she encountered the object she was looking for. She yanked her
arm back into the warmth and pressed the phone to her ear. “’Lo?”
    “Lily-bean?”
    Her eyes shot open. “Daddy?”
    “Hey, baby.” His voice was so gentle it made Lilith’s heart twist.
    Hearing her father’s voice always made her feel like a little
girl. It wasn’t a bad thing. On the contrary, she had nothing but good memories
of her childhood. What made her heart twist and her breath catch was the ache
of loss she felt.
    Once upon a time, she’d been her father’s princess, the apple of
his eye, and the very center of his universe. Her mother had died when she was
just a baby, but she hadn’t lacked for anything growing up.
    For the most part, her father was bewildered. When she was a
teenager, she’d become someone he didn’t understand. While he still loved her,
he didn’t know how to deal with her, and she didn’t know what to tell him.
    “Happy birthday. Twenty-one. That’s the last big milestone until what? Thirty, maybe?”
    Lilith laughed. “Yeah, I guess. Last special rights birthday until
sixty-five when I get the right to pay less for a meal. I’m supposed to get
trashed tonight, right?”
    There was a beat of silence, and Lilith wondered if it was wise to
remind him she could drink legally now. She tensed, waiting for the inevitable
moment the conversation got awkward.
    Her father surprised her by going with the flow. “So you’re going to exercise your right to party then?”
    “Ah, well. Malcolm and Dana are forcing