Part Twenty-one of Lilith's Escape

                                                                  

Edward placed the unconscious Lilith on his bed and rolled her over to her side to check for the source of bleeding. He lowered the linen dress from her shoulders to find the wound, which was located on her lower back.

                                                                 
             It was a deep cut and looked like it was made by a double edge blade.

                                                                      

“Lilith, wake up,” Edward patted her cheeks in an attempt to bring her around, but she did not respond. He hurried to the bath and grabbed a few towels to apply pressure to the wound. She was losing a lot of blood.

“Lilith, you need to open your eyes,” Edward ordered, but to no avail. Her breathing was shallow and her pupils were dilated.

He would need to call for help, but was it safe to do so? If someone was tracking her, bringing her to a hospital would make her vulnerable to another attack. He had to do something, but what? She was immortal, how could she be injured and better yet, how could he help her?

She let out a long gasp and the sound of it, made him freeze. He heard that sound many times before in his work and usually it was a direct result of his permanently disposing of an enemy. She was dying.

                                                                                                                 
                        

“Lilith, please,” Edward shouted as he felt for her pulse. She had none and Edward began to puff air into her lungs,

                                                                                                                     
but when she did not respond to this, he gave a quick punch to her chest. Her eyes opened wide as she took in a deep breath. “I thought I had lost you,” he had begun to say, but her scream stopped him cold.

                                                                             

“They’re coming,” she warned and then disappeared, taking Edward with her.

                                                                         

Edward found himself sitting on a hard stone floor inside of a large room. There was a huge fireplace to the one side of the room and a balcony to the other. The walls were covered in white drapes, which glittered from the light of the setting sun. The room was empty of any furniture, except for the large bed against the far wall.

                                                  
“Where the hell, are we?” he asked the woman cradled in his arms, but if he was expecting an answer, he would have to wait for she had passed out again.

                                                                           

  

Part Eighteen of Lilith's Escape

                                                               

                                                     

“I don’t know when the apocalypse is to begin and I would like to keep it that way,” James replied after downing his drink. When Edward didn’t respond, James added, “No matter what comes along, I’m already a sitting duck.”

                                                

“Give yourself a little credit, James. You’re still dangerous enough to kill a few men even though you’re stuck in that chair,” Edward replied.

“You know me well and yes, I would go down fighting.”

                                             

The two of them sat there sipping their drinks, each lost in their own thoughts until Edward said, “Lawrence Levi is missing and it isn’t just me looking for him,” Edward then told his ex-partner the events of the past two days.

                                                

“Well the fact that these men tried to kill you might mean that Levi is still alive and you’re getting close to finding him,” James suggested.

“There was a lot of blood on his rug, so he might be badly injured. I need to find him before he dies and I need to contact our little lady,” Edward replied.

Edward stood up to leave and James followed him to the door. “Don’t make it so long between visits, I miss our talks,” James said as Edward pulled open the apartment door.

“I’ll try to visit more often after this case.”

James had moved his wheelchair back so that Edward could close the door, but before it was completely closed, Edward asked “When you needed to contact her, how did you do this?”

                                                       

“I had to place a red sheet of paper in the window. Very strange and very mysterious this little lady is, but if I wasn’t stuck in this chair…she’s beautiful enough to make you ache.” James needn’t expand on his meaning because Edward had already felt the effects that she had on a man’s libido.

                                                     

Edward took a taxi back to his apartment and after he took care of his cat, he searched for some paper. He found a small gift bag shoved in the back of his coat closet.

                                                        

The red gift bag held an unopened birthday gift from a co-worker at MI6. Taking out the leather gloves, he folded the bag and placed it in the window.

                                                           

                                                               

His head was pounding and his shoulder hurt like the dickens so he headed to bed with the hopes of a good night’s rest.  He was mistaken.

                                                       

Part Fifteen of Lilith's Escape

                                                                                                                                                     

They stood outside the cab, guns aimed. Edward’s shooting arm was dislocated and he was unable to reach for the gun with his left hand. His vision was blurred, probably a concussion due to his head making contact with the window. For the second time in his career he was helpless and so he waited for his execution, which was sure to come.

                                                           

Suddenly from nowhere there came a bright flash, followed by screams and then nothing. He had no idea what had happened to his attackers, but Edward’s head was throbbing and he felt himself giving in to the darkness …

                                                  

…He awoke to find himself in a hospital bed and a detective from Metro sitting patiently on the chair near his bed. “What happened?” he asked the officer.

“You tell me,” the detective replied.

                                                        

“I don’t know. We were hit by another car…how is the taxi driver?” Edward’s head was throbbing and his shoulder didn’t feel too hot either.

“He didn’t make it,” the detective replied.

Edward felt badly for the man and wondered if the driver left behind a family.

“Do you know who burned the limo and the armed men?” the detective asked, not giving Edward a chance to gather his wits.

                                                   

“Burned? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Edward replied, but he remembered the bright flash of light and decided to keep the informtion to himself.

The detective gave him a suspicious look and said, “Someone called in the accident and when the local police arrived they found the taxi driver dead and you unconscious. The limo was totally destroyed with the driver still inside. The two who were found near the taxi…well let’s just say they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

                                                     

“What happened to them,” Edward asked, as he rubbed his shoulder.

“See for yourself,” the detective said and handed a photo to Edward.

                                                                                                              

The bodies were burnt beyond recognition, but you could see the men’s outline and the weapons they held in their hands. How was this possible? What did he get himself involved with?

“I don’t know what happened,” Edward repeated as he handed back the photo.

“You’re not from the Yard, but you have a badge. I did some investigating and found out you’re on a forced leave of absence from MI 6. You’re involved in this some way,” the detective snapped.

                                                                                                           

“I don’t know the men who were killed except for the taxi driver and he was only taking me back to the city. We were hit by the limo and that’s all I remember.” Edward was done answering questions. Now it was time to start asking. “Who were the men? Did you identify them yet? Who owned the limo?”

                                                       

“We’re working on finding out,” the detective replied as he stood to leave. “We’ll need to ask you more questions, so don’t leave London.” He then left the hospital room.

Edward rang for the nurse and when she entered the room he said, “I’m leaving. Please bring me my clothes.”

                                                     

She argued that he was still too weak to go home, but Edward pulled his I.V. tubing from his arm and slowly sat up on the edge of the bed. She ran to get the doctor.

He needed to get back to his apartment and make some phone calls. He wanted to know exactly how his contact had first met with the mysterious Lilith. Even though he never saw what  happened to the men who were about to kill him, he knew that somehow, Lilith was involved.

                                                          

When the doctor returned with the nurse, Edward was already gone. He had found his clothing and after dressing, sneaked out of the hospital.