"Hey Nina. How's Angel? I haven't seen him around lately." Ash inquired after Nina's husband.
"Angel's great. He's at home at the moment watching Sari and Colleen." Nina said in her soft voice as she crossed her legs.
"He's been domesticated, I see. Meaning, he doesn't pee on carpets." Ash grinned widely. Nina laughed her beautiful laugh.
"I'll tell him that. I think he'd appreciate it." She smiled again, and then took a sip of her coffee. Ash looked to her quizzically. "Why do I even bother trying to hide things from you Ashes?" She smiled softly again, and shook her head.
"I have no idea. You better tell me before I have to guess, and I really hate guessing. Although, I think I know this one." Asia looked at her intently, and waited.
"I'm pregnant." Nina's smile turned into a tremendous grin. Ash leaned over to give her a hug, and smiled back.
"Yay you! Have you told Angel yet?" She leaned back and put her hands on Nina's shoulders.
"No. I'm going to tell Angie tomorrow night. We're going out for dinner." Nina looked at her slightly beseechingly.
"Ulterior motives, Nina? You can't be in the slightest manipulative. You're my role model! You're letting me down with this one. Of course I'll look after the girls. I never miss a chance to see my god-children."
"Thanks Ash." Suddenly a phone went off. Nina grimaced, recognizing it as her own. "Excuse me." She turned away, and pulled the phone out of her bag.
"Hullo? Angie... they're what? How did they manage that?... You bought them finger paints?... They're two and three years old, what did you expect?... it sounds interesting..." Nina looked to Ash and started laughing. She choked it back when she realized that Angel probably wouldn't appreciate it at the moment. Ash, however, had no such qualms, and was almost rolling on the floor with her laughter.
"I'm not laughing, honest... you poor dear... there's cleaning supplies under the sink... you used, er, a dustbuster on it? Um Angie? I think I should explain something... it's not generally used on anything but, um, dust... the name kind of says it all... I'll be home in about an hour... Ash is here... okay..." She handed the phone over to Asia. "He wants to talk to you."
"I gathered that." Ash smiled and placed the phone to her ear. "Hey Angel, haven't spoken to you in awhile... what no pleasantries first?... I know I'm funny...one minute." She put a hand over the phone. "Your darling husband is begging me to take your children, and this is a direct quote, "off his hands for tomorrow night". Can I tease him a bit?" Nina grinned.
"Angel? Still there?... oh, you heard that?... no need to sound so grumpy... hand paints? This is the cause of your sorrows?... all over the hall? Floor too?" Ash started smiling, which quickly turned into laughter. Nina started again too.
"We're not laughing at you... I did hear about the dustbuster thing though... okay I'll put Nina back on. And you keep smiling, sunshine." Ash was laughing so hard by this point, that tears were running down her cheeks.
Nina took a moment to compose herself, before she said in a slightly strangled voice, "Angie? Are you okay for a little while?" Nina turned away from Ash, who was now making dustbuster motions with her hands. "Okay... I love you, sweetie... I'll see you soon." She clicked the phone off, and looked admonishingly to Ash who was now slumped against the back of the couch.
Asia was so astonishing looking, that people couldn't help but stare. She had dark red hair that flowed to her waist, and amazing light blue eyes that were encircled by a ring of black. They were the signature Damiquez eyes.
She was quite short, standing at just barely 5'3". She had a perfect heart shaped face with high cheek bones. She had a bow-shaped mouth, with the bottom lip being slightly fuller, giving her an unintentional look of sensualness.
Tiny pearly teeth, and extremely pale skin completed her look of absolute exoticness. Right at that moment, she was wearing a long formfitting, sleeveless, black dress of velvet.
The only jewellery she wore was a band of wide, hammered silver that was engraved with words that Nina could not read because they were in Arza, the ancient language of the Witches. She knew though, that the words were a symbol of the Damiquez family, and coven.
The other piece was a necklace made of thin silver bands woven together that fit tightly around her neck. It was a symbol of Mistress. A sacred Witch title for the strongest Witch of that age group. She would go on to be the Mother, and then the Crone. That would not happen for a long time though, because she had just been made it, after being the Maiden for a great many years.
Nina herself, was a Lamia Vampire, like her husband. Which meant she had been born a Vampire. She was twenty-five years old, and had not stopped her aging. Angel had stopped his aging in his thirties, and was nearly a hundred years old.
"I hate to go, but I promised Skyiia that I would go by and see her tonight." Ash stood up and stretched her back looking decidedly cat-like.
"Ah. Give her a hug for me." Nina looked at her for a moment. "I thought, since you're twenty, you're her legal guardian..."
Ash frowned slightly at that reminder. "Fiona isn't letting her come live with me. She's prepared to take me to court over it. I'm letting her cool down a bit. I know there's not a lot she can legally do, since it was put in my parent's will that I would take over full custody at twenty, but it's more for her peace of mind.
She's worried I won't be around enough to be good for my ten year old sister. If she hadn't raised me, I wouldn't let her get away with this. And maybe there's a grain of truth in what she thinks. I'm going to have to alter my lifestyle quite a bit."
"Ah, good planning. You wouldn't want to alienate her. I know how much you love your aunt, and you have to admit, she treats Skyiia like a daughter." Nina stood up also.
"Yes, but also..." Asia paused and they began to walk to the exit of the club. "I want to be the one who brings Skyiia fully into her Powers. I'm afraid that Fiona will be too lenient with her in that respect as she did with me when I was that age. I want Skyiia to have much more guidance and knowledge then Fiona can give her."
"She is to be the next Maiden, right? Who holds the position right now? I was wondering. As you know, I don't very much keep up with the Witch news." Nina smiled. "Hell, I hardly keep up with the Vampire news."
"Yeah, she is. A young girl of no consequence holds it now. I can see she's too weak. As soon as Skyiia comes into her Powers, the council will overthrow the girl in honour of her. I have foreseen it. In spite of everything, they will become true friends, teaching and learning from each other." Asia pulled her long black velvet cloak from the coat room beside the exit, and tossed it over her shoulders.
"That's excellent. Hate is one of the most intoxicating drinks." Nina put her hand over her heart, and made a wide circle out with it. Ash smiled at the traditional Witch goodbye.
"Unity." She said softly, and stepped outside into the blistering cold. Nina stood on the doorstep, and waved at Asia's back until she was just a speck down the street.
It started snowing again, in great torrents. Nina sighed, and projected a thought to Ash, be careful.
Asia heard the thought, and trudged on to where a limo was waiting to take her home. As soon as the chauffeur spotted her, he jumped out and opened the back door for her.
"You should have phoned me, Mistress Damiquez. It is unseemly for a woman of your importance to be walking on those streets." He said slightly admonishingly.
Ash smiled. "I did not want to put you through that trouble, Keenan. It was okay. It was good exercise." She stepped into the plush leather interior, and shrugged off the heavy cloak. She then picked up the cell phone that she had left on the seat, and punched in a few numbers as they started to move down the street.
"Hello, Siobhan?" She said quietly in Arza into it. "Yes. Asia? How good it is to hear from you." The woman replied warmly. Siobhan McDaniel was Vampire, and over a hundred years old. She was closely connected to the powerful Airianne family, as her mother had been an Airianne until she had married.
"And how good it is to hear you. I do have something I need to ask about though." Asia sank into the seat, and closed her eyes. She was so very tired.
"Anything." Siobhan's Arza was almost as good as a Witches, and the flowing words of it were like music to Asia's ears.
"I was wondering if the necklace is ready for Sky Starr." She knelt down and unbuckled the shiny black shoes on her feet, and then kicked them off.
"Yes. Just got finished yesterday. I put my best blacksmith on the job."
"Thanks, Chevy. You're a jewel."
"I know. Would you like it delivered, or are you going to be in town soon?"
"I'll come to town. I have some work to do there. I haven't been in awhile. Things just seem to pile up." Asia curled her feet under her, reached across to the small fridge, and extracted a Coke.
"I know what you mean. When are you coming?"
"I'm not sure. Plus, it's against security measures to let anyone know of my plans concerning going there."
"Sorry. Call me when you arrive then, and we'll go out for tea."
"Sure. That would mean a lot. I'm going to have a little nap now, so I will see you soon."
"Sweet dreams."
"Unity." Asia folded up the phone, and placed it on the floor beside the seat. She stretched out on the soft leather with a contented sigh.
"Mistress?" Keenan's voice sounded from the speaker.
"Yes?" Asia said drowsily. She glanced at the iced glass that separated them.
"Are we on our way to Lady Fiona's house?"
"Let's drop off at home first. Then, you go home to your wife. I'll take care of myself for the rest of the night." Asia didn't really think of Keenan as a servant. He had been with her for so long, that he was more like a father.
His wife, Maij, was the one who looked after Asia's sprawling home, and always made sure there was a thermos of hot chocolate for her in her room before she went to bed.
"Yes, Mistress. May I enquire as to whether you are going out again tonight?" Keenan's voice was shadowed with concern. He also served partly as a bodyguard, and worried about her constantly.
"I'm going to take the jeep over to Fiona's after a nap, and a change of clothes." Asia closed her eyes. If Keenan said anything more, she didn't hear it.
