Chapter 31

Shen and I picked our way along the narrow path that led up to the area where Elsa had encountered Bruce.   We had no idea what had happened to Elsa. She hadn’t checked out and her things were still in her room.  We agreed that, wherever she was, she was probably fine. She’d expressed the need to be pampered.  Perhaps she’d decided to take the night off and go to a spa. Whatever the reason for her absence, we decided to simply leave her for the night and continue the search on our own. Shen still had the spare vile of potion that she’d given him the first night we started the hunt. So, if we did find him, we were prepared. We just hoped the one vile would be enough.  It would have been better to have Elsa’s vile as well, but we had no way to get into her room and, if we did, no idea where she’d hidden it from prying eyes.

Returning to the scene of Nandru’s demise created an emotional roller coaster for me. The