A holiday or a devastating anniversary…
Nina adores the winter solstice. Even with the crazy busy first year of her café, Nina intends on spending time chatting to witchy friends and celebrating the return of the light. When her crush, Rhys Witherby, shows up and wants to talk after closing, Nina hopes the holiday also brings some light to their sweet but slow moving…friendship.
But for some, the solstice marks more than the turning of the season. For some, the longest night holds haunted memories and bitter darkness.
Nina and Boo and Rhys must stand between that darkness and the innocent on this long, dark night. And hope to find a little light at the end.
NINA'S WINTER SOLSTICE AT THE CAFE is available to read for free for the ENTIRE MONTH of DECEMBER! This is a special celebration of the winter holiday season at the Cafe.
Also look out for the previous Nina and Rhys stories which will be live this month as well so readers can enjoy their specific arc! Start with BOO AND THE WITCH AT THE CAFE if you'd like to read in chronological order. (The story reading order and links are also below).
For readers who would prefer to read on a device of preference, or who would like their own personal eBook of this story, you can find it here.
***
Nina’s Winter Solstice at the Café
A Café Story
This wasn’t the first time in her life she’d had a business to run during the winter season, and she didn’t mind it. But modern times were a lot busier in December than in the past. There were more demands on a café owner than there’d been in some of her other businesses over the years.
And all that made Nina a little frantic.
Not necessarily in a bad way. She loved her café and what it had become. And really, she’d be spending this solstice with just her and Boo anyway, even without the business, because when you live for eighty-three years without really aging, having ordinary friends to spend a holiday with got more difficult. And her witchy friends were all busy in other parts of the world doing other things.
They had a video chat planned for the solstice, so they could visit and catch up. And since everyone was in different time zones, the scheduled time was smack in the middle of the night for Nina, so it worked around the café’s opening hours. Celebrating the longest night at night felt cozy anyway.
In the week leading up to the solstice, though, the café had been packed and kept her and Akira run off their feet. Next year, she decided she’d hire one extra person for the season. She could afford that now that the café was doing regular business.
The bookstore next door had seen a lot of business this season too, which made Nina’s heart happy. She loved the idea that people were buying books as presents for the various winter holidays. But also might be buying themselves books to survive the chaos of the holidays. That was an equally valid option.
The bookstore owner had decorated with garlands and blue and white lights, set out tables specifically for each of the big winter holidays, and decorations for general winter merriment all over the walls. Nina had perused the Winter Solstice table last week on a short break and was surprised to see a book by one of those distant and scattered witch friends she’d be talking to soon. Nina had bought the book, of course. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had time to read it before the group chat. But at least she could hold it up and let Una know the bookstore carried it.
Nina had gotten the café into the season, too, decorating with a lot of artificial green garlands and bright white fairy lights. She’d painted the windows with snowy winter woods scenes and ensured she had some season favorite drinks and goodies on hand—things with peppermint and chocolate did well this time of year, but there were also sufganiyot for Chanukah, the jelly thick and yummy inside the donuts, and some crinkle cookies in the red, green, and black colors of Kwanzaa. She’d have to research some of the other holidays that her customers might celebrate for next year, because she wanted to make sure she had something for everyone. Because everyone was welcome at the café.
This year, though, she was… Well, tired wasn’t quite the right word. Her body had decided it wanted to move slower, to enjoy the winter season with more ease and peace. But her real life and running a business hadn’t allowed for that slowing down. The café was crowded most days, especially as the weather outside got colder and colder.
And today, with flakes of snow settling onto the sidewalk, the bright interior lights of the bookstore and café had drawn huge crowds. People were standing near the walls and lingering near the windows because there were no extra seats. And yet no one seemed annoyed. People were chatting and moving back and forth between the café and the bookstore, and the vibe was overall very pleasant.
She supposed if she had to be run off her feet—and making enough money at the moment to see her through January and February bills!—she was grateful for the happy, pleasantness of it all.
Boo, from his perch on the tall three-legged stool next to the register, watched the crowds with a regal contentedness. He was not run off his feet. He was comfortably enjoying the season curled up on his stool like a fluffy gray pillow, napping, and occasionally accompanying Jamar—the young man who liked to come to the café and practice his guitar—with some remarkably pleasant sounding cat singing.
To be fair to Boo, there wasn’t a lot he could do to help in the running of the café, being as he was a cat, even if he was also a witch familiar. But he was a staple of the place, and many of the regulars—and a few of the newcomers—liked to give Boo a scritch while they waited for their coffee. If he felt they needed it, he even purred for them, which, from Boo, put people in a much more pleasant mood.
Actually, she’d have to ask him about that. Maybe that was why the vibe in the café and bookstore was so pleasant. Maybe Boo was purring a lot and ensuring the holiday season stress and grumpiness melted away from all their customers.
If that were the case, it would explain why so many people were here and hanging out and happy even if they had to stand. She mentally made a note to thank Boo for that.
It was near the end of the day, when it was dark and the snow was coming down more steadily outside, when she finally looked across the café and notice Rhys Witherby sitting in his usual seat by the front window. She hadn’t even seen him come in! And Akira must have taken his order because he and the other man with him had mugs of coffee sitting on the small table between their cushioned chairs.
The two men seemed to be in deep, animated conversation, so Nina didn’t want to bother them, but she did take a moment to indulge herself during a lull to admire Rhys from afar. He was a very handsome man, dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin, dressed as he would for the weekend in casual jeans and a sweater, a coat draped across the seat behind him. And his smile, when he smiled, always made her a little swoony.
They’d been talking, texting, growing a solid friendship for months now. All leading to more than friendship, she hoped. But they hadn’t done more than a few after hours coffees here after she locked up. They both worked a lot. He was a lawyer by day, vampire hunter by night. She was a cafe owning witch with a lot on her plate. Finding a night for a real date, when something didn’t come up to disrupt that date, had proven difficult.
Sometimes, she wondered if that was on purpose. If they were both making excuses just so they could keep this flirting casual. There was baggage there, a lot on his side, and it had left them both careful and cautious.
But maybe a little too cautious.
She blinked when she realized she’d been staring too long and took a moment to glance at Rhys’s companion. A nice looking man, dark hair, dark eyes, dark brown skin tone, dressed similarly to Rhys but with a sports team jersey instead of a sweater. They were both gesturing and animated, and neither was smiling.
Nina wondered if this was a lawyer thing, a vampire hunter thing, or something else. And her curious had her considering going over and being nosey even though she was hesitant to disrupt the intense conversation.
Akira came up behind her and said, “They’re probably due drink refreshes. Want me to handle the register?”
Nina gave Akira a grateful, slightly embarrassed look and headed around the counter. Boo lifted his head to glance at her, then settled down again. Content to ignore her attempts at flirting.
She’d think after eighty-three years, she’d be better at it.
She stopped at the edge of the table and smiled down at the two men, though they didn’t notice her right away and she caught a little snippet of the conversation.
“…if they don’t sack him before the end of the month, I’ll be surprised,” the man with Rhys said, a slight English lilt to his accent. “After that last performance? It was a disgrace.”
“I agree,” Rhys said, “but they haven’t given him enough time to build anything. If they sack him now, they’re starting from scratch mid-season.”
“They have to do something—” The man broke off when Rhys looked away, looked up, and spotted Nina standing there awkwardly.
Rhys went from scowling to a wide smile, and that smile made Nina giddy and glad she’d come over. Though she still felt a bit silly just standing there listening in on their conversation.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she said in her best café owner voice. “Just checking to see if you need another coffee.”
“Nina,” Rhys greeted. “I was afraid you’d be too busy to talk.” He nodded across the table. “This is my friend, Bruce. Bruce, this is Nina.”
Bruce’s smile was also wide, and charming, and Nina spotted the mischievous glint. “Nina. Pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Finally, huh?” She raised her brows at Rhys.
“I might have mentioned you and this place once or twice,” he said, still grinning.
That he talked about her to his friend was… Well, she wasn’t quite sure, but it was something, and that something was good and made her stomach dance. “Nice to meet you,” she said to Bruce. “Can I get you both something else?”
“I’d have another coffee,” Bruce said, glancing at Rhys.
“Two. Thanks, Nina.”
She smiled, took away their empty mugs, and said, “I’ll be right back.”
Akira stepped away from the register while Nina was readying Rhys and Bruce’s order long enough to say, “What were they discussing? It looked so intense before you walked up.”
“No idea,” Nina murmured. “Something about someone getting fired.”
“Oh boy.” Akira glanced over. “Rhys is watching you now, though.”
“Stop.”
“He is!” Akira giggled and went back to the register, where a new customer had appeared.
Nina tried to ignore her cheeks heating. Sometimes, she swore, it was like being in her teenage years again, having a crush on the cutest boy around, dealing with her friends’ teasing, and not quite knowing herself around him. She was much too old for this sort of nonsense.
And yet. It was also kind of fun.
She brought the drinks back to the table, setting them before each man, and was about to leave with the usual, “If you need anything else…” comment, when Bruce said, “Do you follow the football, Nina?”
“American or soccer?” she asked, since with Bruce’s English accent, it could be either.
“Soccer.”
“I do not,” she said with a grin. “Why?”
Bruce waved a hand at Rhys. “We were discussing our favorite team’s troubles this season. They played today and we’re hashing out everything they did wrong.”
She chuckled.
“Have you considered a TV with the sports channels on it?” Bruce asked, again with the mischievous grin.
“I opened a café, not a sports bar, but if I ever open a sports bar, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Thank you.” Bruce glanced over at Rhys, still smiling.
“Will you have time to talk after closing?” Rhys asked, ignoring Bruce.
“Sure. My only big plans for tonight are a video call with some friends. But that’s not till after midnight.” She caught Bruce’s brows rising at that, and she said, “These friends are all over the world at the moment. Some of us got the awkward time zone draw.”
She left them to continue their soccer post mortem and went back to work. But she was aware of Rhys for the rest of the afternoon. A part of her had zeroed in on him and ensured she knew when he moved, when he finished his coffee, when his friend left but he stayed behind. He abandoned his seat for a third coffee, then had to sit with Jamar when he lost his place at the window. But he didn’t seem annoyed and was happy to sit and talk music with Jamar. That made Nina happy for reasons she could entirely explain to herself.
***
Closing time came upon Nina fast, because the café was still quite busy when it finally rolled around. Announcements from the bookstore that they’d be closing soon filtered through the café, and Nina echoed them. She started bussing some of the empty mugs and got the tray that held the dirty dishes that other people had tidied up themselves, ensuring the closing would go smoothly.
Akira handled the last few new customers with to-go cups. And then Nina turned the sign in the door and locked up. The quiet after all the noise and busyness of the day was a bit startling. Almost too quiet.
“We need some music in here,” she muttered.
“I got a holiday music station queued up on my phone,” Akira offered. “I can turn that on.”
“Yes, please.”
The soft music played in the background as they cleaned tables, and closed out the register, and readied everything for the next day. Rhys had wandered over into the bookstore while they closed, having learned a long time ago that Nina wouldn’t let him help because she didn’t pay him to do that.
Between Nina and Akira they had a good pattern down for closing and they were done quickly and efficiently, everything set up and ready for the next day. Outside, it was dark—and had been for a while—but there were still a lot of people passing on the sidewalk. Despite the hour, it was the shopping season and a few of the stores stayed open extended hours in the days leading up to Christmas. Nina couldn’t keep her café open that long—she’d never get any sleep!—and the bookstore didn’t extend their hours either, so it was just as easy to close when the bookstore did.
The wind must have been strong, because everyone had their coats pulled tight around them and their hats pulled low. She still saw one rather cute ski cap go flying past with a young man running after it trying to catch it before it blew into traffic.
She couldn’t hear the wind inside, which sort of surprised her. It looked strong enough to be rattling the windows, but inside, all she heard was the lovely holiday music playing and the sounds of Akira and the bookstore owner puttering around to set the stores to rights for the morning.
Nina stared at all that wind blowing past on the longest night of the year. And wondered.
She loved the winter solstice and what it represented, loved that starting tomorrow, the days got longer and the light came back. This was a night for celebrating and magic. But also a lot of darkness and mischief and danger happened in darkness.
She shook off the worry. It was just wind. In the middle of winter. When wind happened.
Once they’d finished turning the seats upside down onto the tables in the central part of the cafe and had gotten everything else settled for the night, Nina sent Akira on her way with thanks, then did the floor sweep and mop herself. It wasn’t an ordinary sweep and mop tonight. Tonight, she did a “cleaning” to rid her café of anything negative that might have built up, sending it out so that light could come in.
When she was done, the place felt refreshed, soul deep refreshed. She smiled as the smell of rich coffee and pastries and clean air filled her lungs. The sense of rightness settling around her.
Boo finally jumped off his stool, but instead of coming to stand with her and bask in the cleansed air, he ambled into the bookstore. She watched him go, her brows raised. Ordinarily, her familiar would finalize the cleansing with her. It wasn’t a necessity, but it created a nice sort of balance as the seasons shifted.
She followed him to the archway between her café and the bookstore. They had discussed putting in a sort of sliding door between the businesses, so the two places didn’t have to be open at the same time, but they hadn’t gotten around to it yet. The bookstore owner stood talking quietly to Rhys with Boo circling her legs, like he was a regular cat claiming one of his humans. Nina supposed the bookstore owner was one of his humans now, but why was he doing that at the moment instead of finishing a magic working with her?
True it wasn’t a big magic working. Maybe he didn’t see the point?
She watched him slide over to Rhys and do the same weaving around his legs, rubbing up against him. Unlike the bookstore owner, Rhys knew that Boo was a familiar and not just an ordinary cat, but he didn’t look down or even seem to notice what Boo was doing. The two humans glanced up at the same time to notice her, and both of them got big smiles that made her strangely nervous.
“All done for the night?” the bookstore owner asked.
“I’m ready to lock up.” She glanced a question at Rhys. “It’ll probably be a few more minutes, though. You don’t have to wait on me.”
“I was just on my way out,” the owner said with a wink. She gave Rhys a little arm pat, then headed toward the front door of the bookstore, waving over her shoulder as she locked up and pulled down the outer metal gate that covered and protected the windows.
Nina waited on her to finish before she asked Rhys, “You wanted to talk? We should go into the café, though.”
“Of course. Sure.”
They walked back through the arch, and almost instinctively, Nina said, “Would you like a drink?”
“No. Thanks. Wouldn’t want you to get the machine dirty again after cleaning it.”
She gestured toward the table where he always sat, near the window. The wind had settled somewhat. There were still lots of people moving past on the sidewalk. But it didn’t seem as crowded as it had earlier.
Boo followed them into the café, still not commenting or explaining what he’d been doing. He just ambled past them again, jumped up on his stool, circled the small square seat a few times, and plunked down, closing his pale eyes and—seemingly—going to sleep.
When she turned back to look at Rhys, he was also watching Boo, frowning a little. But he shook off whatever he was thinking and smiled at her. Then didn’t say anything. Just looked at her with this soft smile that made her giddy inside. His smile also seemed a bit hesitant, though. And that worried her.
“You wanted to talk?” she reminded him. Usually, when they hung out after closing—the closest they’d gotten to a date so far—the conversation came easily and they just sort of fell into things. Something felt different about this conversation.
“Your video call tonight? That a holiday thing or just a regular friend thing?”
“Holiday thing, in this case. A general solstice celebration with people that aren’t in the same time zone.”
“Nice.” Another pause.
Nina said, “Your friend Bruce seems nice. You two known each other long?”
Rhys nodded. “Met a few years ago. I was doing some legal work for a non-profit he works for. We hit it off when we discovered we follow the same hopeless soccer team.” He chuckled.
Silence fell again. This was…odd. They usually talked comfortably enough. At least they had since she found out his secret identity and she’d admitted to hers. Him being a wizard and her a witch was sort of complicated, admittedly, but that wasn’t really their biggest obstacle. The witch-wizard thing was something they could get over, and for the most part, had. At least, she’d thought so.
Their biggest problem was his brother, a fellow wizard and vampire hunter…who’d been turned into a vampire and was now a rather untrustworthy family member. Virgil had left them alone for months now, but the silence and Rhys’s hesitance to say what he wanted to say made her think this had to do with his brother. Which was worrying.
“Okay, this is starting to freak me out,” she said after the silence went on too long. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong. Exactly. It’s just.” He glanced out the window.
A gust of wind kicked up suddenly and sent a heavy green metal garbage can rolling across the sidewalk. A few people had to jump out of the way to keep from getting mowed down by the thing. Nina frowned at that. Those cans were usually bolted to the sidewalk, weren’t they? Otherwise, they’d get stolen all the time. How the hell had it gotten loose?
“That wind is weird,” she said, mostly to herself, but aloud because if Rhys wasn’t going to say out loud what he wanted to talk about, she had to say something. And the wind was weird.
“Strong,” Rhys agreed. His brows were lowered and his frown deepened, creating creases around the sides of his mouth she tried not to notice because for some weird reason she found his scowl sexy.
“Unnaturally strong?” she asked. Then glanced over at Boo. He was still curled on his stool, giving her and Rhys privacy, but he was looking outside at the pedestrians and the flying bits of city that kept rolling past.
“Don’t usually get gusts that strong without a major storm,” Boo said.
They were all alone now, and since Rhys was a wizard and knew Boo was her familiar, Boo was less strict on his “no talking in front of others” rule. That was still a pretty long sentence from Boo in front of Rhys, though.
The wind really was…unusual.
“Strange,” Rhys murmured.
“You got an idea?” she asked, looking from Boo back to Rhys. He hadn’t reacted at all to her cat talking. That would have been nice and comforting if she wasn’t suddenly so worried.
A smallish car—she didn’t know models but it looked like one of those family cars with four doors but not very big—went sliding past, pushed into oncoming traffic. Breaks squealed and people started shouting. There was no one in the car. The wind had pushed it.
“Oh, that is really not good.” In the distance, she heard an emergency vehicle, but she couldn’t tell if it was headed this way or on its way to another disaster. If it was coming this way, that meant something else must have happened nearby because there hadn’t been time for them to even know about this car sliding into traffic.
The people on the sidewalk started to shout and there was some screaming. And then Nina stared in horror as a woman had to hold her child in both hands as it was lifted off the ground.
“Okay. That’s about enough of that.” She hurried to her door, said a strengthening spell to keep the door from flying off its hinges, and opened it wide. “Everyone! Get inside. Come on. Inside. Now!”
The people on the sidewalk nearby rushed toward her, the woman with the child wrapped tightly in her arms barreling inside, skidding to a halt in the middle of the café and letting out a half sob, half scream sound. More people flowed through the door. The wind rushed inside with them, and Nina was certain it would have pulled the door off its hinges without her strengthening spell.
All around the street, people were rushing to take cover inside whatever businesses were still open. Cars were abandoned as they slid sideways and swung in odd circles in the terrible wind.
Nina covered her eyes and tried to see evidence of a tornado or something descending on them. There’d been no warnings, and there weren’t tornados in this area normally. When there were, they were usually only strong enough to uproot a few trees, and break off branches. But as Nina stood in the doorway, hurrying people inside, she stretched out her senses, to the currents of magic and electricity in the air.
Something felt…wrong.
Once the sidewalks were clear, she tried to pull the door closed. Wind tore into the café, rattling the windows, pushing around chairs and tables, sending some of the ceramic cups behind the counter crashing to the floor. People screamed. Somewhere down the street several car alarms shrieked.
She tugged at the door, but the bastard wouldn’t move. “Fuck.” Had she overdone the strengthening spell?
But no, it was the wind, the wind seemed determined to keep the door open. Like a big hand holding it in place, some entity so much stronger than her, she might as well have been trying to pull a giant oak over barehanded.
Someone came up next to her, grabbing the edge of the door above her hands. She didn’t have to look to know it was Rhys. Then more hands joined theirs and with a heave that felt like it might break the door in half, they pulled it closed.
The glass rattled angrily, and something slammed against the door right after they got it locked, but it wasn’t something visible. It was as if the wind itself had punched the glass.
No cracks showed, thankfully—hadn’t overdone the strengthening spell after all—but everyone took uneasy steps back away from that thump, and one of the people who’d helped her and Rhys close the door let out a small gasp as the glass shivered.
“Okay,” she said, her heartbeat pounding, the sounds of the wind and alarms and crashing metal as cars slammed into each other making her wince. “This is…”
“Bad,” Rhys said, sounding hoarse. “Very bad.”
“What the hell is going on?” someone behind Nina said.
“A tornado?”
“Get away from the windows!”
Nina’s eyes widened. She reached out a hand toward Boo as she murmured a stronger strengthening spell for the windows that made up most of the front wall of her café. Boo was at her feet, weaving around her legs, catalyzing and strengthening her magic.
She wove her spell into the glass, which already had some spells in it for strengthening and protection—she’d been careful not to put anything in that might lure people into the café because she’d wanted it to succeed on its own, without magic—but the added spells boosted the strength of what was already there.
Just in time, because a moment later, one of the cars sliding around the street flew sideways right into the front of her shop.
Everyone screamed and gasped and Nina’s eyes widened to see a car now blocking her door. Someone behind her said, “Fucking hell.” And Nina felt that comment in her bones.
But the glass didn’t buckle and the front of her business remained intact. With a screeching noise of metal against metal and glass, the car slid across the front of the building as the wind pushed it aside and further up the street. The sound was so loud, Nina winced and Boo actually yowled. She reached down and lifted him up, holding him close and covering his sensitive ears.
The car got flung back out into the street, separating from the building with a weird popping noise. But the screeching sound ended and there was no more car blocking her door, so she took a breath.
Finally, she spun to check on all the people taking refuge inside her café. “It’s okay, everyone. We’re safe in here.”
“Can you put down the metal gate from inside?” Rhys murmured.
The bookstore’s metal roll down gate covering their front windows and door would protect that part of the building. At least Nina hoped so. But for her part, “No. Have to be outside to pull it down. It’s not that sophisticated.”
Rhys leaned in even closer, whispering in her ear, “The spells you just cast will be enough?”
“They stopped the car,” she whispered back. “So I hope they’ll be enough.”
He nodded, his expression grim.
“Any idea what’s going on?”
He shook his head.
But something in his expression worried her. As if his head shake was more confusion than a negative answer to her question. “You suspect something?”
His mouth flattened. “I hoped it was nothing.” He glanced away from the front of the building to look at her. “It’s the solstice.”
“That means something? Something more than just longest night in this hemisphere and all us witches are celebrating the return of the light.”
“Something more. In this case…” He sighed. “It’s the night Virgil was turned.”
***
Nina got everyone settled near the back of the café, pulling seats and tables away from the windows so there was more seating. There wasn’t quite enough room for everyone, so some people sat on the hardwood floors, some people leaned against walls. She was a little surprised no one wandered into the bookstore looking for a more comfortable place to sit. But everyone seemed to want to huddle together and not go too far from the crowd.
The winds howled outside. Cars slipping and sliding around like they were drunken ice skaters. There were bangs, and loud noises, and one of the street lamps across the street ended up bent in half, the light itself pulled out of place and flickering weirdly.
That they hadn’t lost power yet was a miracle. So Nina busied herself getting the espresso machine going again, and gave everyone free coffee or tea, or in the case of the three kids in the crowd, hot chocolate and some left over cakes. There weren’t many, so she couldn’t feed everyone, but no one argued when she gave the food to the kids.
In the distance, more emergency vehicles blared horns and sirens, but none of them had reached this street yet. As far as Nina could tell, they were on their own for a little while. Especially since the wind showed no signs of dying down.
“Nothing on the news or weather stations say anything about a tornado,” one man in the crowd said. “No one is reporting on it.”
“Tornado wouldn’t last this long anyway,” someone else said. “The winds would have died back already if it was just a tornado.”
“Just a tornado? What a thing to say.”
“I used to live in tornado alley. It gets weirdly normal. Still terrifying but more normal.”
“So this isn’t a tornado?”
As the crowd continued to discuss the weather, Nina pulled Rhys to one side, near the register. Boo jumped up on his stool so he could be closer to them as they talked.
“This isn’t a natural weather phenomenon, is it?” she asked Rhys.
He gave a small head shake, his attention focused on the crowds of people at the back of the café. They were all talking amongst themselves, not paying any attention to Rhys and Nina for the moment.
“What does this have to do with your brother?” she asked.
“Virgil’s powers…changed when he was turned. Not only did they come with him into vampire form, but they were…different. He could do things he couldn’t do before, things I can’t do.”
“Control the weather?”
Rhys lifted his chin, the barest of nods. “His sire was the same, though. He could control the weather. At least the fog. So we’ve never been sure if it was the vampiric nature or the wizard magic that allowed Virgil to control things like fog and rain…”
“And wind.”
Rhys scowled out at the street.
“Why is he having a temper tantrum in this city?” she asked, when Rhys remained silent.
His mouth twitched at her description. “He’d deny this being a temper tantrum.”
“Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck…” she said with a shrug.
A soft smile broke briefly through his expression. “Before he turned, I think he would have liked you.”
“He doesn’t like me now.”
“He’s…threatened by you.”
“Sure sure.”
Rhys shook his head, chuckling. “How can you make me laugh at a time like this?”
“I’m just really clever that way. So what’s going on? Why the wind storm? What does this have to do with the night of his turning?”
“Darkest night of the year meant his sire had…more time to deal with Virgil. That was not good.”
Being at the mercy of a vampire, when you were a vampire hunter, was no doubt a very bad thing. Being at a vampire’s mercy for longer than was absolutely necessary had to have been horrible.
“He’s never happy on this night,” Rhys continued. “But it’s gotten worse in the last few years. And I was afraid this year would be worse than ever.”
“Because of me.” She didn’t try to be coy. They both knew Virgil hated their relationship—or whatever it could be called at this stage. Virgil had made his feelings abundantly clear.
“Because he still feels I’m distracted, but also, I think he’s feels like he’s lost some of his control over me.”
“Control?”
“Through the guilt. The guilt I carry has made me more inclined toward doing whatever it took to ensure he was okay. If not happy, then at least content.”
“You didn’t turn him and you didn’t tell him to go hunting a dangerous vampire alone. He could have waited for you.”
“Logic has nothing to do with guilt,” Rhys said, with a bitter twist to his mouth that hurt her to see. “I would have set boundaries with him a long time ago if it did. And I wouldn’t have put up with…” He waved a hand toward the window. Just as another car, an SUV this time, rolled past, sideways, looking like it might tip over at any moment.
The SUV had antlers on it and a huge red nose fixed to the front grate, so that it looked like a car reindeer. Nina had seen a few cars dressed up for the season this year and thought it was adorable. It was not adorable watching that SUV get blown around like a toy, though.
“In the past,” Rhys said, “these…temper tantrums, this wallowing in his anger and grief, meant he’d unleash a few minutes of gusty wind. He went as long as a half hour of winds so hard they forced people to grab onto their hats and hurry toward the nearest building. But this is the first time he’s created something like this. This much chaos.”
“It must be going on around the city, too, not just here, since I can hear the emergency vehicles but there haven’t been any on this street yet.”
“I’m afraid that might also be Virgil’s doing.”
“He’s preventing us from getting help here?”
“A little confusion spell that sends all the help to different parts of the city.”
“So he’s endangering lives here on this street because he’s in his feelings?”
Sometimes she wanted to smack Virgil upside his idiot head. She got why he was upset. He didn’t want to be turned into a vampire, and they’d never found his sire to kill the old vampire. But Virgil had also changed with his transformation, according to Rhys—she only knew the vampire so had nothing to compare his new behavior to—and he was a lot more manipulative and cunning now. More vampire than whoever he’d been before turning.
“I suspect if he thought he could get away with damaging your café and only your café, he’d probably try that. But with all the protective spells on it…” Rhys shrugged.
“Thank the longest night I put all those protections on.” She nodded back to all the people huddled at the back of the café, talking over each other as they discussed the horrible wind. “How long before he stops tantruming and the wind dies down?”
“The longest he’s been able to go before was an hour.” Rhys looked out the windows, which rattled but remained intact. “But he’s really upset tonight.”
“Yeah he is.” Nina sighed. And hoped all this pouting from Virgil didn’t get someone killed.
She had some sympathy for the vampire, which felt weird but there it was. He’d been converted against his will, when he’d been a vampire hunter. He was still a vampire hunter, technically. He and Rhys still hunted down and destroyed vampires who were causing trouble. There were the occasional ones who just quietly tried to get on with things and drank from willing people or stuck to animal blood. Those she let into her café and didn’t bother. And neither did Rhys—she couldn’t vouch for Virgil.
But Virgil was still a very powerful wizard on top of being a vampire, and while she’d only interacted with him a few times over the months, that was enough to know she couldn’t trust him. They’d come to a sort of a truce—he was allowed into the café to glare at her as much as he wanted and she wouldn’t kick him out so long as he didn’t interfere with her customers. He took advantage of that to come sit in a corner and glare at her about once a month. They didn’t speak to each other and she went about her business ignoring him. It had been mostly working.
But the truce remained…delicate. This storm only went to prove that their understanding had not really settled things between them.
“So I guess we’re just going to have to wait this out,” she murmured, thinking about the supplies she had on hand, and how much hospitality she could afford—giving away free coffee wasn’t covered by her business insurance, but also, this was a bad situation and her instinct was to make sure everyone was comfortable and had a hot drink.
Also, it was winter solstice. It was supposed to be a night to welcome back the light and celebrate. The whole, eat, drink, and be merry thing.
Screw it. She could afford a little drink and be merry if it kept everyone from freaking out. “Anyone want another round of coffee or tea?”
A chorus of “yes” and “please, thank you”s met her offer. She got back behind the counter, brewing up fresh drinks and handing them out to everyone who came to the counter. Rhys, at her direction, handed out the last of the pastries and sweets she had on hand, ensuring the kids in the room got whatever they wanted first.
Once everyone was settled again, and continuing the discussion of whether or not this was a tornado, Nina asked Rhys, “So, was that why you came in today and what you wanted to talk about? That your brother was likely to have a tantrum tonight and might put me in the crosshairs?”
“No. No. Actually. I, uh, I actually…”
His cheeks colored, the blush so charming, it was all Nina could do not to grin. Rhys Witherby, big time lawyer and vampire hunting wizard, blushed. That was so sweet.
He let out a huff and said, “I got you a solstice present and I’ve been waffling about giving it to you.”
“First, thank you. Second, you didn’t need to get me anything but that was very sweet. Third, why are you waffling? Gimme.”
He barked out a laugh at that last. “First, you’re welcome. Second, I’m glad you think it’s nice I got you something, because third, I was worried you’d think it was too much given we’re still…getting to know each other. That’s why I’m waffling.”
“Did you get me a house on a hill with a huge fireplace, cozy chairs, a library, and a lot of secret doorways?”
He frowned a little. “I was saving that for your birthday.”
She grinned. “I appreciate that you thought to get me a solstice gift.” She glanced at the windows as they rattled. “It would have been nicer to have this conversation without a café full of people and your brother kicking up a storm outside, but still, very nice. I do appreciate it.”
“You haven’t seen what it is yet.”
“You’ve already told me it’s not that house? What else could it be?”
He reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out a very small wrapped box. The box was about two inches square, wrapped in green paper with tiny sparkling white pine trees on it. And when he handed her the little box, she got the distinct scent of forest from it.
Not just any forest. A nighttime forest deep in winter with crisp frosty air and earthy richness underneath the scent of pine and spruce. If she closed her eyes, she swore she’d be able to see the forest. Almost feel like she was surrounded by it.
She did let her eyes drift half closed as she brought the little box up to her nose and breathed in the glorious scent. She hadn’t intended on doing any outdoor ceremonies this year—too tired from working and with the storm outside, it would have ruined those kinds of plans anyway—but it was something she’d done in her youth and the memory of those lovely nights out in the deep woods, followed by roaring fires and wine and feasting in cozy cabins… She got all that from the scent coming off the box.
“This is a wonderful present,” she murmured, smiling up at Rhys, her heart thumping and her stomach doing a funny little dance. “Thank you.”
“You haven’t even opened it up yet,” he said.
“There’s more?”
The base and lid of the box were wrapped separately, she was able to lift the lid without ruining the paper. Inside, on a bed of white stuffing, sat a tiny brass pinecone. The brass under the café lights looked almost brown, but brown with a sparkle. And the details in the pinecone were exquisite, each row of scales around the cone individually etched and shaped. It was perfect. A perfect little cone.
“Oh,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful.” She ran a finger over it, and the forest scent rose again to surround her.
When she looked up, she blinked. She was standing in a pine forest, white snow on the ground, the air crisp and sharp, fogging as she breathed, though she didn’t feel cold. A part of her was still aware of the café around her. This was an illusion, a sort of virtual reality mirage. But a damned good one. Better than any illusion spell she’d ever experienced outside of Fae glamour.
Rhys stood with her inside the illusion, his expression hesitant as he glanced at their surroundings, nodding to himself and mumbling.
“You were worried it wouldn’t work?” she asked.
He straightened. “How did you know?”
“You just mumbled, ‘Good. Thank god.’ You thought it wouldn’t be this perfect.”
“I thought it might not have taken and would look fake. Like…a drawing on a sheet pulled up around you. But this worked. It worked really well.” He was looking around, seeming genuinely pleased with the illusion now.
“Haven’t you done this before?”
“Nothing quite like this. Illusions, yes. But usually reserved for…less pleasant experiences.”
Ah. He used them in his vampire hunts. That was interesting. And something she’d like to know more about. When they could talk without an audience.
Which reminded her. “What are the others in the café seeing?” She whispered so the others wouldn’t hear.
“You and I standing and talking as you look at the package. It’s only something you can use and see.” He huffed and scowled down at the snow on the ground between them.
Nina followed his gaze to see Boo at her feet, pushing around the snow with one of his paws. His pale gray fur matched a little too well with the nighttime shadows across the snow, so that he nearly blended in with the scenery.
“I guess Boo can see it, too,” Rhys said.
“I can,” Boo confirmed, looking at all the trees. “Cold. Pretty.” He looked up at them and yawned. “I’m going to see if one of the kids wants to pet me.”
He wandered away and vanished out of the illusion. Which was a cool trick, really. But also, “Did everyone in the café just hear him?”
Rhys shook his head. “They shouldn’t have. They can see us, but what’s happening, the conversation, all of this, is masked.” He glanced in the direct Boo had gone. “At least, I think so. I doubt he would have talked like that if everyone could hear him.”
True. Boo was very good at pretending to be an ordinary cat, even if he was a huge one.
Nina scanned the illusion again, smiling as snow flakes filtered down through the trees, sparkling in the moonlight. “It’s stunning, Rhys. Really. Perfect.” She smiled at him. “And I’d stay here for longer, but I should probably know how to…turn it off.”
“Just brush the cone again.”
“So every time I brush the cone, I’ll end up in this illusion?”
“I set the first time to happen automatically. After this, to turn it on, you’ll have to press this particular scale. See, it wiggles a little. When you press that down, the illusion will come up. But brushing the pinecone will always shut the illusion off. And only you can turn it on and off.” He glanced back toward where Boo had disappeared. “And maybe Boo. I’ve never done anything like this for someone with a familiar before.”
She was so tempted to ask if he gave out gifts like this a lot. But that felt needlessly catty and intrusive. As he said, they were still getting to know each other. They still hadn’t managed a date that involved going somewhere other than her café.
“It’s a beautiful present, Rhys. I’ve never had anything quite like this before. Thank you. Thank you very much.”
He smiled, his hands in his pockets as he looked down at her. She knew there were other people just the other side of this illusion and that they’d be seen, but screw it. She set a hand on his shoulder, rose on her toes and placed a gentle kiss on his mouth. They held each other’s gazes for a long moment, his soft smile making her pulse unsteady.
There was so much potential here. She really wished his brother would back off so they could see where this might go.
Accutely aware of their audience, she eased away from him. Reluctantly, she brushed her fingers over the tiny pinecone again, and the illusion around them broke apart into snowflakes, sparkling dots of light falling away to the floor until the café was once again revealed.
“Even the way it ends is beautiful,” she said in awe. “When we’re alone, will you tell me how you do this? Or is it secret wizard stuff?”
“Usually secret wizard stuff,” he said with such a deadpan expression, she chuckled. “But I can tell you about it.” He sighed and glanced out the window where the wind was still raging.
Half the light poles along the road were bent sideways. There was a collection of cars and various metal bits off cars piled against the buildings, and an entire large tree blew down the middle of the street as they watched.
“Though maybe not tonight,” he said. “I’m not sure how long he’s going to be doing this.” Rhys looked at her suddenly, his eyes widening. “You’re video chat with your friends.”
She shrugged. “They’ll understand if I have to miss it. Or I can call them from my phone. Though, it won’t be the same thing with all these people around. But I can explain…some of this, and they’re all witches, they’ll understand.”
It wouldn’t be the first time one of her friends had some emergency come up when they’d planned a group chat.
***
Fortunately, Virgil only rage-stormed for another half hour. And then the storm died down as suddenly as it had started. A few last, lingering gusts that blew around the remaining loose metal, and then the storm was done.
The people gathered in the back of the café were all reluctant to leave, and Nina was reluctant to send anyone outside until she was sure the storm was over. When a series of emergency vehicles pulled up along the middle of the road, their red lights whirling in the darkness, she let out a breath. Those wouldn’t be here if Virgil was still blocking them from this street with a confusion spell.
The chaos was over.
For the moment.
Nina and Rhys got everyone safely out, after EMTs checked to make sure there were no injuries. It took some time because about half the people who’d taken refuge in the café had lost cars in the storm. And taxis weren’t getting through. In the end, between people whose cars were intact giving rides to those without rides, and Rhys bundling up some people into his car—which he’d left in a garage near his office around the corner so it was fine—they managed to get everyone home.
Rhys offered to come back, but she waved him off. It was so late already. They were all tired. Better to go home, rest, and start fresh the next day.
“At least I got to give you the present,” he said quietly as they stood in the café doorway, waiting for a few of the people he was taking home to finish with the EMTs. “And you got to meet Bruce.”
“Those parts were very nice,” she agreed.
“So was the kiss.”
That made her stomach dance. Amazing she could still feel so giddy. Even after everything.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t indulge another kiss before he had to leave. But the promise was there. A promise to keep exploring these feelings and this relationship. Whatever it was.
She watched him lead his charges away and then surveyed the street.
The block was a mess. She had a feeling the city was a mess. But after talking with one of the firefighters, it sounded like no one was seriously injured and no one had died. Which was some sort of miracle. A solstice miracle maybe.
Or maybe Virgil had decided he’d rather suck blood than spill it wastefully while having a tantrum, so he had given people time to clear out of the way before he went full tornado storm.
Either way, Nina was grateful that, despite all the chaos and damage, it was just property damage and not people damage.
Thanks to her spells, her store survived the storm without so much as a cracked window. And the bookstore had remained undamaged too. She’d snuck a few protection spells on the glass after opening her own café, as a way to thank the bookstore owner for agreeing to this venture. The spells wouldn’t have held out against all the flying cars. But the metal gate covering the windows combined with those small spells had done wonders.
Nina took her video call inside the café, with Boo curled in a ball at her feet, his soft fur brushing her ankles as she chatted with her friends. It wasn’t exactly the solstice she’d planned. There was no wine. No feast. No silent ceremony to see her through the long night and welcome the turning of the seasons.
But when she glanced at the little box beside her on the table with its green paper and tiny white pine trees, and took a deep breath, filling her senses with that smell of cold winter forest, she thought it wasn’t a bad way to have spent her solstice.
No. Not a bad way to spend a holiday at all.
***
Thanks for reading NINA'S WINTER SOLSTICE AT THE CAFE. I hope you enjoyed it!
And if you missed any of Nina and Rhys's story, they are once again live to read for free! Just click on the covers and jump to the stories! The Reading Order is:
These stories are all available as a December winter holiday treat! (So there won't be a new story on the 15th, just all these stories to read at your leisure for the month). And all of them will be free to read throughout December.
Look out for the new Cafe stories starting on January 1st! And the new collection, STORIES FROM THE CAFE, VOLUME TWO which will be out in eBook and Print editions in January as well.
If you’d like your own personal eBook copy of this story, you can find it for sale here. You can also pick up the previous STORIES FROM THE CAFE, VOLUME ONE, which has all the stories from the first six months of The Cafe collected in eBook, Trade Paperback, Large Print Paperback, and Hardback editions!
And until next month, Happy Holidays! May the season treat you well!
~Kat
NINA'S WINTER SOLSTICE AT THE CAFE Copyright © 2025 Kat Simons
All Rights Reserved. No part of this story may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This story is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.