Nikolai’s POV
It was nearly 1pm on Wednesday now. I sat in the hall on a bench just outside of the council chambers, waiting to be called in to speak. There was still no sign of Maximus, and for a moment I became hopeful that perhaps my men had found him first.
I checked my phone again— there were no new messages, not as much as an update from Pipa since she’d texted me, “arrived safely,” yesterday around lunchtime, to let me know she’d made it to the Allegheny house. I’d kept trying to link Isadora, too, but had been unable to do that, either. I couldn’t understand how she was blocking me out. I just kept trying my luck with Pipa. I only hoped that when I went to her on Sunday that this would all be over and she would be happy to see me.
I was quickly snapped from my thoughts as I loo
