MY ROOMMATE IS VAMPIRE

Chapter 5: 12 AM Council

The city was dead at 11:55 PM.

Adrian drove. No, he didn't drive. The car drove itself. Black, sleek, silent.

I sat in the passenger seat with a blanket over my shoulders. The bite mark on my neck was tingling.

"Scared?" he asked without looking at me.

"Terrified," I admitted. "But I'm more scared of that van."

"Good," he said. "Fear keeps you alive."

The Council building was an old church in the middle of nowhere. No lights. No cars. Just gargoyles and silence.

"This is where they judge rogues," Adrian said, parking. "And humans who know too much."

"Which one am I?"

"Both," he said. And took my hand.

The doors opened on their own.

Inside, 12 chairs. 12 vampires. All old. All staring.

In the middle stood the hunter from this morning.

"Adrian Vance," he said. "Rogue. Unregistered. For 300 years."

"And this," the hunter pointed at me, "is a human. Marked illegally."

My knees almost gave out. Marked illegally?

Adrian stepped in front of me. "I claim her."

"You can't claim a human without Council approval," another vampire hissed. A woman in red. "She is to be erased. For her safety. And ours."

Erase? Like kill?

"No," Adrian said. His voice wasn't loud. But the whole room went quiet. "She stays. With me. Or you go through me first."

The woman in red laughed. "You? The one who sleeps in a coffin and pays rent with cash? You're weak, Adrian."

Adrian smiled. And it wasn't nice.

"Test me."

The air changed. Cold. Heavy.

The 12 vampires stood up at once.

And then it happened.

The lights went out.

Screams.

When the lights came back on 10 seconds later...

3 of the Council members were on the floor. Unconscious.

Adrian was standing in the same spot. Holding my hand. Like nothing happened.

"Anyone else?" he asked politely.

Silence.

The woman in red swallowed. "Fine. The girl lives. But she is bound to you. If you die, she dies. If you betray the Council, she pays."

"Deal," Adrian said.

The hunter looked furious. "This isn't over, Vance."

"It is," Adrian said. "For tonight."

We walked out.

In the car, I was shaking. Not from fear. From adrenaline.

"You killed them?"

"No," Adrian said. "I just knocked them out. I'm old, Mia. Not stupid."

He looked at me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. Then I did something stupid.

I kissed him.

His lips were cold. But he kissed me back. Soft at first. Then deeper.

When we pulled apart, he was breathing hard. For a vampire.

"That was a bad idea," he whispered.

"Probably," I said. "Do it again?"

He did.

By the time we got home, the sun was almost up.

Adrian carried me to my room. Put me on the bed.

"Sleep," he said. "Tomorrow, we deal with the consequences."

"Will you stay?" I asked.

He lay down next to me. Fully clothed. On top of the blanket.

"Always," he said.

And for the first time since meeting him... I felt safe.

[TO BE CONTINUED...]