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Sure enough, near dawn, the ht and Shadows Or what had once been the school When the Commander took over Ixia, work for assassins in Ixia had dwindled Hedda eventually closed the school instead of taking the offer to ith Valek and the Commander But they’d recently discovered from Onora that Hedda hadn’t retired, and had actually been training a few students
Fresh grief for his old teacher rose Onora had killed Hedda Probably because she wouldn’t divulge the naet the Coht When he’d first arrived on Hedda’s doorstep, the school had plenty of students Now the place appeared deserted--although he doubted it was In fact, this location would be a perfect spot to run another illegal operation, like stealing during stor In this part of MD-1, cliffs lined the Sunset Ocean, and Hedda had built her school to rese all the structures in the corayish-white landscape
The sky brightened as dawn’s first rays chased away the blackness Valek looped around to a little-known entrance Fro of salt and rust on the coh here in years Good thing the corrosive salt air eventually turned metal brittle Valek broke the lock in two and slipped inside
He paused, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness Voices bounced off the stone walls Concentrating, he detected two speakers, but the words were garbled Valek tracked the conversation until he understood the speech He listened next to an open door Yellow lantern light spilled into the hallway
"no one followedtone
"You’re an idiot You just killedthat Valek would never forget
"Relax Valek’s not here for you, but I thought you’d like to know he’s in the area," the man said
Valek stepped into the roo the man, but not Hedda
"I’ht," Valek said "You are an idiot" Then he turned to his former teacher
Hedda stood behind her desk with a knife already in her hand All but a few fiery red strands of her hair had turned gray Wrinkles etched her forehead and drew her mouth into a frown
"Hello, Hedda" Unconcerned about the blade, Valek strode closer "Nice to see you alive and well"
She inclined her head politely "King Killer" Her grip tightened on her weapon "Did the Corow Theobroma-resistant Curare?" Leif repeated "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Esau said "This" He waved the thin branch Its oval-shaped leaves bounced with the motion "is a crossbreed of the Theobrorows pods, the Theobroht contain Curare If you press those seeds, you et a Curare that can’t be neutralized by Theobroainst the paralyzing drug The Commander’s soldiers could invade without any resistance The thought of having to wear a uniform and obey his Code of Behavior soured Leif’s stomach "So you don’t know if they’ve been successful?"