King Hall (Forever Evermore, #1)(73)

I pulled my head back. “Philip, this isn’t happening. Let me go.”

His eyes were on my lips, and he said softly, “You didn’t even give it a chance.” He dipped, and his lips were back on mine.

Okay, that was enough.

I raised my hands and started to shove him, but he twirled us, slamming my back against the bathroom door. His mouth nipped at mine too hard. Too rough. Just like his uninvited touch when he palmed one of my breasts. And I, being a Shifter, deciding his touch was too brutal, which was saying something.

“Get off me!” I shouted as I jerked my head to the side, pushing him roughly.

He skidded back, his legs hitting the tub.

Pivoting quickly, I grabbed the handle, needing to get the hell out of there, but my face was slammed against the door. I felt my eyebrow split open on the hard wood, and he pressed against me from behind, his hands instantly going up the bottom of my dress.

His mouth against my ear, his words were brutal as he hissed, “It didn’t have to be like this, Lily. You could have enjoyed it.”

I hadn’t expected this of him. At all. He hadn’t seemed like a rapist to me, but I guess you never knew. I grunted and shoved off the door, using some of my Shifter strength this time, and we both flew back. We stumbled, tripping as we hit the tub, and a sickening crunch sounded under me as we landed inside it. I rolled over on top of him and saw blood start to seep from the back of his head, spreading out like a ghastly halo on the white porcelain. He was unconscious. I had pushed with too much strength for a Com.

Oh, God. He was a f*cking Com congressman, and I might have just given the man brain damage. I threw myself out of the tub, scrambling backward toward the door. This could not be happening. This could not be happening here. Not only would I get charged, since Coms would most definitely take his side over mine, but also, possibly, anyone at this party they wanted to pin it on.

Jumping to my feet, I threw open the bathroom door, and looked frantically for my elite guards. I didn’t see them anywhere, so I shouted, “Felix! Aros!” The few Mys students who had begun congregating in the hallway glanced my way, and their eyes instantly went to my head. I pressed a palm to my forehead, remembering my eyebrow had split. The wound was long healed, but I had blood drying on the side of my face.

Aros and Felix turned a corner, and took one look at me before sprinting my way. Good. The sooner they got in here the better.

I moved aside, letting them in, and slammed and locked the door. They took in the mess I had made of Philip, but didn’t say anything since they looked mighty furious seeing the blood on my head. I stated in a hurry, “News is going to travel fast about the blood on my face, so we need to hurry. Felix, can you make a two-storey drop holding him without injuring yourself?”

He nodded briskly.

“Good.” I pointed at the tall window over the tub. “Take him to my Hummer. He’s a f*cking Com congressman. He can’t be here dying. I’ll be there in a few.”

“Fuck,” Aros muttered, glancing back to Philip, then me. Yeah, he got it. I would be put behind bars if the rapist Com died and was found here with me, but Aros did state, “Head wounds always seem to bleed more than what they should with Coms.” He rubbed my arm, trying to calm me. Not really what I needed right now.

Felix was already moving, pushing the window open. He glanced down, saying, “No one’s out back yet. That’s good.” Five seconds later, he was out the window with Philip in his arms.

I trusted him not to lie about hurting himself in the fall. Plus, he was a panther Shifter. Cats landed on their damn feet, right? I turned the shower on hot, and Philip’s blood quickly washed down the drain. Grabbing spare toilet paper one of the organizers of this party had placed in here, I wet it and wiped my face quickly. I stored that damp evidence in my purse, and glanced around for any other blood in the room, scenting the air. Other than on my black dress where it had dripped there were no remains, the door clean of dried blood after Aros used a lighter from his pocket on it.

After shutting the steaming shower off, Aros opened the door for me and started pushing people away, since, yes, word had traveled and they were beginning to congregate outside the door. We had made it halfway down the steps, Aros shoving people as they tried to talk to me or stop our progress with needed touch, when I glanced up from his broad back.

My friends, who were still dancing, had noticed the commotion on the stairs. They took one look at my face and reacted much like my elite had, all three pairs of eyes beginning to glow. Jack and Pearl gave their mates quick kisses in farewell, and the three of them started slipping through the crowd.

I pushed Aros faster. We needed to get to my Hummer. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the Com from there. Maybe, take him to the hospital, or bury his body in the backyard if he was dead — either one was a real possibility — but I couldn’t do anything until I got to him.

Pearl, Jack, and Ezra saw where we were heading and beat us there, waiting outside on the front lawn. They didn’t say anything, but quickly fell into step with me as I pushed past Aros and started working my own way swiftly through the milling crowd.

Once I hit the sidewalk, I started a fast jog, friends in tow, and Aros taking the rear. My Hummer was a block down the road, but when we arrived I didn’t see anyone in the dimly lit area. “Felix?”

“Right here,” he stated, coming out from hiding behind my Hummer.