The lounge was still filled with drowsy vampires that had over-indulged the night before. Which was something that left a relatively bitter taste in my mouth, when I considered how many of our kind were going to struggle in the coming weeks. Someone or something was plotting their minds, and neither Adrienne nor I had any information we could work from.

I had hoped to spend the rest of the day coming up with solutions that I could share with Rudhairi, who would hopefully feed them back to all the leaders, and this entire mess would wash away. What I hadn't expected was Adrienne to be so filled with rage over what had occurred before the sun had fully risen, that she'd darted up to me not one hour after we'd arrived home with a steely glare and tight fists.

"Nika,"

I stalled, giving myself a moment to take her in as I turned to face her. My mouth had formed a frown when I noticed the gaze she was holding me with. She had said my name with an expression that had grown far more troubled than when we'd witnessed the failed refill. It was a fully realised glare that seemed to hide an intent that was lost on me. Her body had tensed, her arms going over her chest as she stood in front of me a few steps from where I'd decided to rest for the day. I'd opted to lounge on one of the free couches, staring up at the cracked wooden beam above me; while the area used to be filled with fellow Seventeen's, they'd cleared quickly after I arrived.

"Adrienne-" I had spoken her name, but perhaps it had only taken place in my head because Adrienne hadn't registered the noise at all. With a quick movement, her hand grasped my arm and pulled me to my feet. Despite the stumble, she'd caused me to have, she didn't falter, pulling me through it and towards the door of the skyscraper. Her eyes sparkled briefly as she noticed the confusion I had tried to express.

"We have a meeting to attend," She said breathlessly, blinking the light from her eyes and closing the door over with a slam. The only kind of meetings vampires had around here were always official, and almost always governmental. In this case, the only meeting Adrienne would desire to attend would be one with the only people that could make a difference.

I swallow heavily, realising what Adrienne was asking of me. I would need to attest as a witness to a crime. She had clearly sat in her room for the entirety of the hour and came up with a rather simple solution to the problem; going directly to the leaders. The only problem that I assume she came up with, was the idea of her not being believed; perhaps she thought that if at least one person backed her up, she stood a better chance of getting what she wanted.

Dawn was creeping in with little conviction, a dull light barely penetrating through the clouds. The zone was quiet, the light illuminating the city just enough to keep our species inside - grunts of sparring from skyscrapers we passed on the way through the zone told me they were already finding ways to stay occupied.

Several minutes of unbroken silence had fallen between us. Adrienne was hurriedly moving towards the wall with a stride that I couldn't find the strength to match. This was despite the fact Adrienne had changed out of her winter boots and opted for a tall heel; a shoe choice I wanted to question, considering the snow that piled high on the ground beneath us.

The woman was walking with a terrifying amount of intent; her heels making deep indents into the snow as we went. Even the dull interaction with the guards of the wall hadn't stopped her from storming ahead with her goals. My eyes had been drawn to the ground as we walked; the very idea of what we were doing had created tension that caressed my neck and ran down my spine.

As I met the tile on the other side of the second gate I realised that Adrienne had rushed off ahead of me. I decided to take my time reaching the centre building. As much as I appreciated the roles of the other leaders, they had never been a pleasant company and I refused to rush to associate myself with it. I had to believe that Rudhairi was the exception to this, that even if I hadn't grown close to him prior to him being handed the title of our leader, that he'd still treat me the same.

"We're here to see the leaders. Urgently." Adrienne had said hurriedly when I'd walked through the doors of the building. The lobby was surprisingly empty at this time of day; vampires dared not to remove themselves from their buildings, and the other species were forced into regular sleeping patterns.

"You said it was a meeting, not an ambush, Adrienne," I whispered to her quietly as I took my place beside her. She looked up at me with narrowed eyes, the look demanding my silence.

"Hush. Talking." She had added emphasis. The woman behind the desk had looked up from her morning coffee in confusion. Her skin had developed a blushful hue as she sifted through some documents on her desk; I could only presume she was looking for evidence of a scheduled meeting.

It didn't take her long to realise that Adrienne was trying to force one to happen out of a sheer will. Her eyes had narrowed slightly as she carefully placed the papers back into her neatly shuffled pile and focused her energy on what I imagined would be letting my friend down easy.

"The leaders are difficult to procure without prior approval, Miss Adrienne." The woman had said nervously, placing the cup on the desk, picking up a single piece of paper and bringing it close to her face. She squinted harshly before she shook her head.

As she lowered it I raised myself on my toes to look down carefully at it - on top in large letters it read 'Government Schedule - Week 49' and what followed was a swarm of information; names, dates, and rooms for a small group of the officials in the building.

It was visibly clear that the response Adrienne had expected from this woman this morning was not the one she had received. She leaned forward with eyes wide and whispered in hushed tones, "Then I suggest you try," The woman's nose had wrinkled and she'd drawn the chair backwards slightly, pulling away from the threat Adrienne was presenting.

The woman had extended an arm out towards the phone behind her. An action that had been met with two simple words that urged her on, "With haste."

There wasn't a part of me that could single out what was intimidating about Adrienne; she didn't necessarily have physical power that couldn't be easily outmatched. I had to assume it was something in her eyes, the way she looked at you. All vampires had this way of staring that just belittled everyone, and made them think they were prey, disregarding any stature they had previously; but it was a different look plastered on Adrienne's face. It always just felt wrong, almost like a joke that shouldn't be taken seriously.

But, the woman had taken it seriously. She must have been at least a little afraid for her life because we'd found ourselves standing outside the meeting room within minutes. The woman had scrambled through several phone calls, and then informed us that the leaders would arrive shortly - the expression she held for the majority of these calls had been one of serious fear.

I couldn't put that all down to Adrienne though because the receivers of the calls couldn't have been pleased. Their procurement would take a while, the woman had mentioned, and left us in a small hallway just outside the leader's assembly; but, like everything in Central, just because it was small, that didn't mean it was squanderous.

Each element of the room was as handcrafted as the public rooms; glossy concrete flooring that shined in the light exuding from the large arch window opposite the toffee-brown door we were waiting behind. The golds and browns of the walls were only complimented by the lit brass torches on the walls, and the marble pillars that stood out every so often.

I didn't get the time to bask in the ambience of such a royal room for very long, the large doorway opening up after a short wait with no warning. Adrienne had grabbed my wrist instinctively, her grip tightening as we entered and witnessed the scene before us.

The four leaders of the zones were sitting in a row on a chair carved in fine oak and crested with gold jewels. These chairs were placed at the centre of the back wall of the room. Each of the thrones had a line of chairs in front of it made of redwood trees. I'd been told by Rudhairi that the chairs were made from trees that had been planted there years before the beginning of this government. They had been inspected and quickly hacked down to make space for building.

The room we'd entered was a large, spacious one filled with chairs; a row in front of every leader. When they were creating the space they'd decided to interchange the seating arrangement; every odd-numbered chair would face the vampires, and every even-numbered chair would face humanity.

The first row's throne was occupied by Ruaidhri; who had barely dressed up for the occasion, deciding to throw on a white linen shirt and brown tapered trousers and fitted with a pair of suspenders - the only 'leader' element about his look was the golden-red hair atop his head. He'd slouched against his chair, and looked on at Adrienne with a rather bored expression, not paying me any mind thank the heavens.

The second row was occupied by Malka, the leader of the Western Zone. Malka reminded me of Ruaidhri in more ways than one. She was a strong leader but there was kindness in her smile, and gentleness I didn't believe I could master. Most of her policies were concerned with making things easier for all species and not just her own - there weren't many that hadn't been pushed through and accepted by the officials; even those of different species.

Of all of the leaders sitting in their thrones, Malka was the one I trusted the most in a leadership position - even more than my own. She had taken up her chair with elegant grace, her dark skin standing out against the streaks of white painted onto the back. I could tell she was the most comfortable in her position, even in her silver metallic layered gown with neck embellishments that seemed like it would drown a regular person, and seemed to be worn with ease and persistent poise.

The final leaders were Aubrey and Alaric, the leaders of the Southern, and Northern Zones respectively. The throne that they shared had been elongated in comparison to the other two to accompany their joint leadership. They believed this showed unity within humanity regardless of their social standing. This had always come across as a stretch to me; a false belief to pander to the masses.

"Adrienne," Rudhairi muttered as we walked up. There was a slight animosity between them that I'd never managed to have explained to me by either side.

I'd kept my stride a few paces behind her, hoping none of the leaders would notice my presence earlier than I wished. I lingered behind her as she stood with her arms crossed in front of them. The leaders almost looked switched off as they nodded their own greeting towards her; Aubrey and Alaric, in particular, looked positively furious they'd been pulled away to this meeting.

"Thank you for meeting me with such little time," Adrienne had spoken with a gingerly sweet tone of voice that hadn't matched with her body language. There seemed to be genuine gratefulness in the words but contempt in her movement. Her arms refused to become uncrossed, almost becoming stiffer.

"It was rather inc-" Alaric had begun to say, being shortly cut off by a whack of the chest than Aubrey had gifted him, a sweet smile engraved on her face. She cleared her throat and edged forward in her chair. The earlier attitude that I had noticed immediately, had been transformed into her diplomatic stance, clearly realising Adrienne wasn't here for a frivolous reason.

"We were happy to meet with you Adrienne, you have an issue you'd like to bring to our attention?" Aubrey said in a clear voice. The woman was beautiful in the classic sense, her facial features perfectly aligned, but her blonde going on white hair and piercing green eyes that seemed to follow you gave something else to her look. While Malka had chosen dark-toned metals to dress herself, Aubrey had opted for a different approach, often adorning her body with long white gowns with gold embellishment - outfits that often gave off an airy and light vibe despite her general demeanour. Something radiated from her body that was both enticing, and fearsome.

If I had been forced to choose her, and Alaric, who in comparison was a light-haired, and stoic man, I'd choose Alaric. At least his anger was at face value. He never seemed positive or gleeful about any of the city's prospects. Even his outfit seemed to scream aggression; rich furs piled high on his muscular form, with braided long dark hair and dark eyes with deep cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes that tended to glare directly at you. Even now, he was directing a glare directly at Adrienne, while still maintaining a rather bored expression.

Rudhairi's hand gestures for her to continue in her speech which left Adrienne swallowing a breath of air and releasing a well-versed rendition of our encounter, "I was informed of a refill that would take place in the late hours of last night. However, when I arrived and watched this refill I understood it to be high-jacked. The contents of said refill were taken by a group of men - the whereabouts of the blood, and the men are currently unknown." This is what caused me to become angry about the situation; I would know both of these facts if she'd let me go for their throats.

"Is there anyone to verify this information, Adrienne?" Malka had questioned through gritted teeth. There was a low growl in her throat as she'd spoken. Her face was pressed into a firm look of concentration, as though it was taking all of her willpower to maintain her resolve. As nice as Malka was, she was very concentrated on her endeavours and while she cared about all people, she still only really gave an open ear to werewolf issues; her people mattered more than anyone else to her as far as I was concerned.

"I attended the refill with Nika, who I have brought as confirmation." She'd given me a sidelong glance, admiring my physique as she did so. There was a brief pause as the leaders looked pointedly at me. A wave of amused anger had spread over Malka's face; something that seemed to be eased by Rudhairi's slight caress of her arm. I shrunk into myself, four leaders narrowing their gaze on me was another league in terms of what I was comfortable with.

"Is that true - Nika?" Rud had questioned, stepping up from his chair and towards the two of us. His voice had taken on a plaintive note as he pressed his hands together and stretched back. He had just stepped into his element, his voice quickly turning into the less diplomatic 'you're my friend' tone that often appeared in his personal rooms.

"From what I understand, yes." I had said blankly. The figures popped into my mind, the cut-out men that were placed around the scene I'd formed in my head that had taken out the crew tasked with the refill. Regardless of the angle, I took in the scene it always seemed so planned out and strategic. They knew what they were doing.

Alaric had given me a look, one that made me jump through my thoughts and answer finally, "It took place in front of our very eyes. So, yes, that is what happened. No doubt."

There was a slight pause as the leaders had shared a look before they'd all nodded just slightly. Adrienne had missed this interaction, having turned to look at me while I confirmed our story.

"We'd like to talk to Adrienne-" Aubrey had begun, looking at Malka intently. They nodded to each other silently, the other two leaders seemingly ignoring the exchange, "Alone."

Adrienne had turned sharply to look at them, a blush appearing on her cheeks as she took a single step towards them. It looked as though she was about to argue with that decision, but then quickly adjusted herself, realising it would be quite the waste of air.

The two men had looked towards each other with creased brows before they nodded emotionlessly. With a flick of the wrist, the doors behind me had been opened, and hands had been placed onto each of my shoulder blades, digging into my flesh.

"You are excused," Alaric had said, a clear, cocky bite in his tone. I only had time to look at Rud's apologetic face before I was pulled out.