Sleep No More

Waters turned onto State Street, stomped on the gas pedal, and rawhided the Land Cruiser through two lines of double-parked cars. His fear was not for Annelise alone. Right now, the real danger was to Lily. Penn’s comment about Lily’s resurgent sex drive echoed in his mind: Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Some men might think having Lily Waters and Mallory Candler in the same body was a gift from the gods, especially if you got Lily for the day shift and Mallory at night. It was the madonna-whore fantasy brought to life. Only Waters knew that this state of affairs would not last. Now that Mallory was this close to him, she would not be satisfied to coexist peacefully with Lily. Mallory Candler did not share. She would use all her power to control Lily, to dominate her, and finally to exterminate all trace of her from the body Mallory sought to inhabit.

Then the danger would shift to Annelise. For no matter what fantasies Mallory might have of domestic bliss, she would ultimately view Ana as a threat. A living reminder of Lily. And sooner or later, she would act to remove that threat. Just as she had removed Eve Sumner.

“Mallory killed Eve,” Waters said aloud.

He hit the brakes and swerved into his driveway, then tore up toward the house. Rose’s Saturn was still parked out front, and this brought him palpable relief. With Rose still here, he wouldn’t have to wait until Annelise went to bed to see Lily alone. He skidded to a stop by the front porch, shut off the engine, and ran inside.

“Daddy!” Annelise cried from the end of the hall. She was crossing between rooms with Pebbles in her arms.

“Hey, punkin!” he called, running to her and sweeping her up in his arms. “Where’s Rose?”

“Who’s running in my house?” bellowed Rose, coming into the hall. “I should have known. I’m glad you’re here, Mr. John. I need to go early today.”

“Where’s Lily?”

“She sleeping. She been tired most all day.”

Thank God. “Rose, is there any way you can stay an extra hour?”

The maid looked doubtful. “My sister needs me to stop off at the drugstore for her potassium.”

“Is it critical? I really need you, Rose.”

The black woman studied Waters’s face, then said, “I guess I could get my no-count nephew to get them pills. If his car’s running.”

“Thank you, Rose. Can you take Annelise outside and play for a few minutes? I’ll come join you before long.”

Rose nodded, her face creased with suspicion. “Come on, girl,” she said to Annelise. “Put that mangy old cat down and bring my cell phone out to the swing set.”

“Pebbles isn’t mangy,” Ana retorted, knowing Rose’s gibes were all in fun.

“Hmm,” Rose growled.

Ana darted into the kitchen for the cell phone, then ran for the back door. Rose followed slowly, her big hips swinging with patient determination.

As soon as she cleared the door, Waters walked back to the master bedroom and opened the door. Lily lay on her side beneath the covers, breathing deeply.

He walked over and started to touch her shoulder, then drew back his hand. What could he say? How could he know if Mallory or Lily was in control at any given moment? He couldn’t simply ask Lily if she was Mallory. If Lily awakened as herself, his words would confuse and even frighten her. And if she awakened as Mallory, she might simply lie. He closed the bedroom door, but before he could think of a sensible way to learn the truth, Lily rolled over and opened her eyes.

“John?” she said in a sleepy voice. “What are you doing home? What time is it?”

“I’m back from work, babe. It’s suppertime.”

She rubbed her eyes. “God…I must have slept all afternoon.”

He sat beside her on the bed. “Do you feel sick?”

“No, just…out of it. It’s weird, like jet lag or something. Where’s Ana?”

“Outside with Rose. I asked Rose to stay late.”

“Why? I’ll get up.”

“Not yet.” He leaned over her. “Do you remember what you did today?”

Lily nodded. “Yes, I…” She blinked several times, then looked blankly around the room. “I guess I don’t remember.”

Waters looked into his wife’s bewildered eyes. All his instincts told him Lily was herself now. But even if she were, what could he say to her? I think you’re possessed by the soul of my old lover? No, what he needed to do was bring Mallory to the surface. But how to make her reveal herself? Actions speak louder than words, said a voice in his head.

Lily threw aside the bedcovers and started to get up. Waters took hold of her shoulders and gently pushed her back down. “You don’t have to rush,” he said. “Annelise is fine with Rose.”

“I’m okay,” Lily assured him. “Really. I can get up.”

Waters laid the flat of his hand between her breasts and rubbed softly. “What if I don’t want you to get up?”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“I’ve been thinking about last night,” he said. “All day.”

After staring at him for a moment, Lily reached out and touched his thigh. “That feels good,” she said.

His fingers went to the buttons of her silk nightshirt and opened the top three. As he leaned down to her breasts, he felt her hands entwine in the hair behind his head. He kissed gently at first, but as the pink flesh swelled in his mouth, he withdrew his tongue and bit the nipple.

“Hey,” Lily protested. “Easy, okay?”

Waters murmured his assent, but he knew he would have to go further to awaken Mallory. For a while he caressed Lily’s breasts in the way she had always liked. Then he kissed his way up to her left ear. “I want you now,” he whispered. “Are you ready?”

Lily shifted her thighs, then made a sound low in her throat. “I think so.”

He unbuckled his belt and slipped off his pants. Lily took hold of his shirt and pulled him across her, then kissed his mouth. As she parted her legs, he touched her cheek and said, “I want to be behind you.”

Lily looked uncertain. “I want to see your face.”

“I know.” He shut his heart and focused on what he had to do. “But you know what I like.”

Confusion clouded Lily’s eyes, but after a few moments of reflection, she kissed him, then rolled over and got onto all fours. “Go slow,” she said. “I’m not that ready.”

Waters knelt behind her, rubbing and kissing her lower back. Lily remained still. Mallory would have arched her back, catlike, against his hand. He wasn’t sure exactly what to do next, but he knew in his soul that he was right. Given the right stimulus, Mallory would betray herself. She would be unable to resist. He slapped Lily on the rump, hard enough to sting.

“Ow,” she cried. “What was that for?”

“You know what I like.” He spanked her again. “What do you like?”

“I don’t like that.”

He slapped her once more, and harder. Lily tried to jerk away, but he grabbed her hips, thrust forward, and went between her thighs. She froze. Poised in this odd position, this confusion of desire and resistance, Waters felt something change. The flesh under his hands seemed to shiver, and then, as he watched in fascination, Lily looked back over her shoulder, her eyes glinting with excitement and anticipation.

“Oh, I know what you like,” she said, pressing her hips back against him. “And you know what I like. So do it.”

Waters was paralyzed. The consciousness glittering in those eyes belonged to a woman he had first made love to more than twenty years ago, before he even met his wife.

“Mallory?” he whispered.

She laughed then, a low, throaty sound, and her eyes filled with dark amusement. “When did you know?”

Waters could not find his voice. To look at his wife’s face and see no trace of her in it was more than he could endure. As he knelt with his mouth open, Lily reached between her legs and took hold of him.

Her touch jolted him like a defibrillator jolting a dead heart. He had accomplished part of his goal, but what