ECSTASY | CRIME PRINCE SERIES | BOOK 0.5 FIRST EDITION

|𝟐𝟎.| 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗳 𝗔 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻

_______________________________________________

A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform." - Diane Mariechild

Happy woman's day.
-written on woman's day
_______________________________________________

PAST

"The mind is devious thing. It can sometimes be one of your greatest friends and allie or it can be your greatest enemy." he said, circling me on the black mat.

I stood there confused, "Why do you say so mother?" I asked. I inhaled deep breaths with every sentence, I was sweating and tired almost every bone in my body was aching for rest but I pushed through not showing the physical pain I was currently feeling.

"Marae, what is your minds greatest strength?" my mother asks now standing in front of us. Marae was out of energy but stood up straight nonetheless when my mother addressed her.

"Capacity to knowledge." Marae answers truthfully, she glances over at me before straightening up once again.

Since when was my mom so terrifying?

"Correct. Knowledge gained is power possessed, a curious mind is a intuitive mind. I would believe I've taught you everything I can, but alas I have failed as a mother." she hangs her head low, circling us again. Guilt flashes our expressions as we eye each other knowingly.

"You have not failed us, we have failed you."

"You are my daughters, and I'm proud of you for overcoming your challenges but - it took you longer to realize your worth, that I'm not proud of. You are women, seen as week, vulnerable, emotional by the world but a woman is still a mammal and a mammal is still an animal." she smiles and we nod in understanding, "Instinct. One of our first lessons, what instinct did you have when you first met Ash?"

I close my eyes tightly at the mention of his name, I rack my brain trying to remember a bitter sweet memory, "Hug him." I whisper biting the inside of my cheek.

"Interesting. Marae what instinct did you have when you first met Devan?"

Marae sighs also at the mention of his name, "I can't read him." she grits her teeth, having not listened to her instinct.

"Now you see, Marae, you should've trusted your instincts." she continues, why did not say anything about me "A woman's intuition, a capability not a talent. Use it especially when facing an enemy, know his weakness, know your weakness. Remember that" my mother said.

PRESENT

"Ash and I will be going in with our team, Marae and Aria you guys will be on the roof, lookouts and assassinations. I trust that this won't be a mess up, make sure you throughly check your gear." River assesses everyone.

Everyone checks their gear and maps out the warehouse, currently we were standing outside Romanov and Davinski's warehouse. The last shipment we were supposed to take - steal - more like take back from them. They wanted a war and we're giving it to them alright. After these last few months, it's been hell just trying to sleep at night.

We were in a coffee shop down near the warehouse. It was shielded from the inside because of 'renovation'. River was going over the plan and occasionally telling us not to mess up, he had a huge layout on the coffe table- blue prints of the warehouse, the ins and outs, dead ends etc. Ash was scouting the warehouse checking the main perimeter, when he personally handled missions he scouts them out himself to be on the safe side.