"Did you see this?" Reno asked when he stepped into the elevator with his partner and showed him the picture he had just received. Rude grunted and Reno smirked.
"Aren't you going to call Kandi?"
"If I know her at all, we are late as is", the bald man replied and watched the sliding doors close.
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"Do we have everything?" Sage asked and kept glancing around furtively.
"Yes we do", Trina said and checked her guns once more.
"Who is going to fly the chopper?" Kandi asked as the group of four neared the helipad.
"I'll do it", a certain redhead declared and stepped in front of the group. His bald partner came out of the chopper and Kandi scooted to him. She jumped in his arms and screamed:
"My man!"
"Did you think I would let you leave alone?", Rude asked as Kandi slid down his tall figure as if he was a pole.
"I'm not alone", Kandi pointed out and continued, "But no. I didn't think you would let me leave without you." She brushed Rude's cheek and smiled at him blissfully. A second later she was on guard again and asked:
"How did you know we were leaving right now?"
"We received a report of mutilation", Reno cut in as people got in the chopper, "A bit too neat for amateur and the markings were quite clear. Ram's has succeeded in perfecting her skills with the blades."
"And how would you know her handiwork?" riled Sage inquired. Reno smirked mischievously as he informed the younger Turk:
"Because I introduced her to them." Katrina slammed Sage to the back of his head and Vincent held him down before Sage could get his hands on Reno.
"We don't have time for this!" Katrina snapped at Sage. Vincent nailed his eyes to the sneering redhead and suggested calmly:
"Just fly."
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"Are you sure about this?" Azure asked. She was sitting on the edge of the room as Auburn collected the runes and Ram went around the room opening the small hatches. The old woman nodded.
"I've been suspecting this for a long time now, but my Sight isn't what it used to be. I had to be sure and I knew Roseata would return in time for the wedding. I could wait for her opinion."
"But we can't wait any longer", Ram pointed out calmly. She was quivering uncontrollably inside but she had learnt to hide those after-effects from everyone.
"That's something we all can agree on, but what are we going to tell Aquamarine and Neha?" Azure was rubbing her temples as she felt shooting pain in her head.
"We tell as little as possible to my mother", Ram informed the older women, "You all ready have enough to deal with the wedding and everything else. We can't risk for my mother misreading the signs and causing more trouble. She only sees what she wants to see. No, this is on me and no one else needs to know."
"This is too much to deal with for a young delicate woman such as yourself Ram", Azure objected and Auburn uncharacteristically snorted.
"Auntie Azure, I am a Turk. What do you think I deal with daily?" Ram tilted her head and waited to see her aunt blush.
"I've heard stories", she admitted, "but I never thought that you would be part of something like that."
"Some stories are true, others are not. I have friends there and they are like a second family to me", Ram said, "I can't abandon them knowing what I know. We must convince the others that I still have things to learn in the city. And-"
"No", Azure shook her head as she realised what her niece was about to say.
"I don't want to see it happen any more than you do", Ram kept her voice soothing but didn't hide the steely strength under it all, "but if it's the only way, we must do it. We must make Neha face the truth, we must make her see that Nella has the gift and agree to let Auburn teach Nella."
"She fears the training", Azure said to Ram, "She was there when it started with you. She was the one who woke you up from your nightmares sweating and convulsing."
"It's my fault", Ram hung her head, "It wasn't the training that caused those horrible nights. It was the lack of training and the dreams I had of my father. I couldn't control them. And I didn't want to burden Neha with another gruesome tale. She was sad enough about her father never being a part of her life."
"Roseata, your cousin is stronger than you give her credit for."
"I know she is. I just wanted to spare her from more heartache", Ram begged for the two other women to understand. It had been so long since she had last thought about the time when she first learned that she possessed the gift her mother envied from her. Aquamarine had put off sharing the news with the Mothers Circle and thus postponed the beginning of her daughter's training. Ram's father had known but unfortunately he hadn't had any say in the matter. Then he had died in an horrible accident and Ram had been the one to find his maimed body. She had been a young girl of ten at the time and she had been haunted by these violent dreams of that very moment. Ram had tried telling about them to her mother who had brushed her words aside. After losing her first husband Aquamarine had blamed Ram for his death. Ever since Aquamarine had watched her daughter like a hawk and the only free moments Ram had had, she had experienced with Auburn during her training.
"Though your intentions were good, your actions weren't", Auburn spoke quietly, "You were a young child who didn't know better but now you are a woman and you do know better. Don't hesitate, Neha must know the truth before it's too late and she passes her irrational fear to Nella."
"I know", Ram sighed, "Shall we confront the Circle again?"
"I think it's past midnight and it's officially the day of wedding, you'll have to wait until tomorrow", Azure spoke and gazed at her grandmother expectingly. Auburn nodded in agreement. Ram was standing beside one of the hatches and she heard something alarming.
"It's not possible", she muttered to herself as Auburn guffawed.
"It's time for your two families to meet!" the old woman chortled.
"What is it?" Azure jumped up and asked.
"My sisters are coming", Ram said and headed to the door.
"But you don't have any sisters!" Azure retorted.
"I was talking about my adopted Amazon sisters. They found me even though I took every precaution I could think of."
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"Is that it?" Katrina asked as Reno flew the chopper over the small farm.
"Yes it is", Kandi said checking he coordinates once more.
"Land us on that last hill", she shouted to Reno who just jerked his head and obliged. Sage was sitting still with Vincent watching over him. Kandi and Trina jumped to the ground as soon as possible and took off down the hill. Just before they reached the valley, they heard a familiar whistle. Ram was walking to them with her arms wide open and a grin on her face.
"What took you so long?" she shouted at her sisters and waited them to tackle her. Trina was slightly quicker than Kandi as the two women pulled out their guns and pointed them at the young blond. Ram threw her hands up and exclaimed:
"I'm unarmed! I don't have my guns with me."
"We know!" Trina replied with a shout, "I thought we trained you better than that. You never leave your guns behind!"
"And not in a sewer!" Kandi added, "And you don't take off without telling us where you are going!"
"I'm sorry", Ram said soothingly lowering her hands. Trina brandished her gun a bit and Ram shot her hands up again.
"I'm really sorry about leaving the guns behind. I'm sorry about leaving my phone behind and I'm sorry about leaving without letting you know where I was going. But I can explain if you let me."
"Go on", Kandi advised with a tone that would have made a weaker woman cry.
"I didn't take my guns with me because I didn't want to risk killing my mother", Ram started, "And I left the phone behind and I didn't tell you where I was going, because I wanted to protect you."
"Protect us from what?"
"From my family", Ram said and saw the gun barrels go down.
"Don't you know we are your sisters? Where you go, we go. We share everything", Kandi spoke sounding indignant, "I can't believe you didn't want us to meet your family."
"Of course I want you to meet my family", Ram said lowering her hands and stepping closer to the Amazons, "I just don't think they are ready to meet you magnificent ladies and when they are caught off guard, they can be- terrifying." After a very short silence Kandi said:
"I guess we can let this go but if you ever-"
"-leave your guns behind or pull another stunt like this, we will kill you", Trina completed the sentence. Ram nodded:
"Never again."
"Group hug!" Reno said running and tackling Ram before either Kandi or Trina had the chance to react. Ram laughed as she caught the lanky redhead in her arms and felt his arms squeezing all the air out of her lungs. Kandi and Trina laughed as well and joined in the embrace. When they finally parted Ram's eyes reached the tall sulking man standing behind two other Turks.
"Rude, Vincent", Ram nodded to the two men and turned to the third, "Sage." She stood on her toes hesitating to take a step when he spoke:
"Did you even think of me when you left without saying a word?"
"Of course I did", Ram said and walked to her boyfriend, "How could I not think of you? It's because I can't stop thinking about you that we are still together."
"You know what I want to hear", Sage said but Ram shook her head.
"I wont lie to you. You don't have a clue what those words mean to me and how everything will change when I finally say them, but I promise that you'll be there when I finally say those words." Sage searched Ram's eyes and he saw that she was speaking the truth. He shook his head surrendering and pulled her into a passionate kiss.
"Ram?" The blond Turk reluctantly ended the kiss and wrapped her arm around Sage's waist turning to face her cousin.
"Everyone, this is my cousin Nettle Hazard, also known as Neha. Neha these people are my second family. My Amazon sisters Kandi and Trina, their companions Rude and Vincent. The redhead trying to pick you up is Reno and this is Sage", Ram introduced everyone. Neha couldn't take her eyes of Reno but her expression wasn't one of adoration. It was one of concern.
" Nice to meet you everyone. Ram, don't you think Reno looks awfully familiar?"
"Have we met before?" Reno grabbed Neha's hand and brought it to his lips. He was just about pull Neha closer to him when Ram shrieked.
"You are right! We need to hide Reno. Quickly!"
"Why?"
"Flame?" Someone shouted from the cabin.
"Oh, it's too late", Ram said trying to sound sorry for her fellow Turk.
"Who is Flame?" Reno asked.
"He was auntie Azure's adopted son who ran away when he turned fifteen. Every single mother in the Mothers Circle adored him and they never forgave him for leaving", Ram explained, "You Reno, look exactly like him."
"That's not a bad thing, is it?"
"You are about to find out", Neha stated and pointed at the group of women nearing them. Reno gazed at the women rushing towards him and made up his mind. He straightened himself and cocked his head:
"It'll be my pleasure to reintroduce Flame to them." Ram couldn't hold back the snickering as Reno walked to meet his doom. She felt Sage's arm heavy around her shoulders as a question entered her mind.
"How did you find me? I left my phone with the guns because I didn't want you rushing after me."
"It's complicated", Sage started when Kandi interrupted him.
"Sage injected you with a tracking chip."
"You what?!" Ram exclaimed with lightings shooting out of her eyes at the man holding her.
"I can explain", Sage started but Ram stopped him smiling menacingly.
"It can wait. I think it's time for you to meet my mother." When Ram took his hand and started walking towards the cabin Sage wasn't sure whether he should consider himself lucky or not.