Crushes come with complications for a café owning witch…
Nina adores her café, loves how far she’s come with the place in only a few months. She has regulars, business is good, and coming into work every day sparks giddy delight. Not just because she loves the place. But because she might see him there.
Rhys Witherby has been visiting the café from the first week she opened her doors to the public, returning again and again. Even staking a claim on a seat near the front window. And his smiles… His smiles make Nina’s stomach flutter.
She wants to believe all those longing glances and sexy smiles mean as much to him as they do to her. Wants to believe this crush goes both ways. Sometimes she suspects it does.
But Rhys has secrets. Dangerous secrets. Confessions that might destroy any chance for their budding connection.
And a past that could get them both killed.
NINA AND BOO AND RHYS WITHERBY TOO is available to read for free until the 15th of May, when another story will be posted. 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 and Boo and Rhys Witherby Too
A Café Story
Nina hurried back and forth between the register and the espresso machine, making coffees and chatting with customers and generally enjoying the buzz of a busy Saturday. Her usual assistant for Saturdays, Akira, was off for the day thanks to an eye doctor’s appointment, so it was just Nina working the counter. But she didn’t mind.
Because he was here. Sitting at his usual table at the front of the café, near one of the windows. Though in the last month, his usual table had become a low, rectangular coffee table surrounded by deep cushioned seats that were easy to lounge in.
She’d just recently decided the café wasn’t comfy enough and had started moving in couches and cushioned chairs, leaving a few of the ordinary tables and chairs in the center of the seating area, but arranging clusters and nooks around the edges where people could be more comfortable lingering with their drinks. Learning how to run the café and ensure it was a nice place to visit was taking her some time. But she really loved the place and how it was evolving. She loved the different customers that came in and out from the attached bookstore. The regulars that had established their “place” in the coffeeshop.
There was Frank in one of the older table and chairs near the back of the café, pounding away at his laptop, his mug of coffee refreshed at his elbow, the plate where she’d left him a couple of croissants empty.
There was Agnes with her mug of tea steaming in front of her as she read yet another erotica book, this one a book of Best Of stories for the year. She sat at one of the older tables and chairs in the very center of the café, a position which gave her a good view of the front door, the bookstore entrance, and the counter. That had become Agnes’ place.
Jamar, the musician who sometimes played his guitar, had taken one of the coffee table and cushioned chairs near the counter. Boo really liked Jamar, so the giant Maine coon often left his perch on a too-small stool next to the register and jumped up on the chair arm next to Jamar for a jam session. Sometimes they just ignored each other. They got along like a house on fire.
Amir, a student from the local university, used one of the older tables in the middle of the café to study and pound coffees. They always went out through the bookstore instead of the café’s main entrance, and the bookstore owner said they always bought a book on their way out. Either a science fiction novel or a historical romance.
There was Diana, who Nina was half convinced was an actual goddess—the Diana—but she hadn’t admitted that yet. Diana mostly drank cappuccinos and loved the chocolate muffins, and kept to the wall right beside the bookstore entrance, reading fashion and hunting magazines, and occasionally a doorstop-sized fantasy novel. She’d happily adjusted to the new couches and cushioned chairs too, though she preferred the larger side tables to the low coffee tables for her drinks.
And then there was…him.
Rhys Witherby. He claimed to be a lawyer who worked in the area. She hadn’t argued with him about that. She was claiming to be a café owner who was the age she looked—somewhere in her thirties—rather than the much older witch with the familiar who looked like a Maine coon cat.
Rhys liked croissants and milky lattes on his days off. Black coffee with sugar on his work days. He liked to sit near the front window. He had an excellent smile. Smelled delicious, sort of woodsy pine. And had been coming in and out of the café since it first opened.
He also occasionally helped her if things went pear-shaped or something weird happened in the café. And he seemed unfazed by the weirder situations that tended toward things like, oh, real goddesses, and the occasional goblin, and that woman who had a dragon companion, and the one who was a Protector—though technically Nina wasn’t supposed to know Protectors existed. She wasn’t sure Rhys new what that woman was, but he’d been at the ready to help if needed.
And he’d never asked questions or seemed surprised by any of the strange stuff. The things that one might consider…well, fictional. Given they were attached to a bookstore and a lot of people considered books magic, Nina—especially because she was a witch—liked that idea and had seen enough evidence of it spilling over into the café that she had started to believe all bookstores were magic. But her life was, even without the bookstore, filled with magic. And a nagging familiar. And the occasional bit of magical intervention.
Rhys claimed to be an ordinary lawyer. Ordinary lawyers didn’t take paranormal and supernatural events with a casual shrug.
Her curiosity about him wasn’t helped by the fact that she’d been melting over his smiles since they met.
For months now, they’d been dancing around each other, chatting and smiling and not revealing too much but just enough to always have something to talk about. He sat in his usual place. Drank his coffees, ate his pastries, and when he was done, stopped at the counter to say goodbye and let her know when he’d be back.
But…that was it.
He hadn’t asked her out. Asked for a phone number. Asked if she got a day off work—she did thanks to Akira but not all that often. He’d asked what she liked to eat besides pastries and coffee but then never followed that up with an invitation to dinner.
Nina wasn’t usually the kind of woman who waited around for a crush to ask her out if he was showing interest. If there was mutual attraction, and he seemed shy about broaching the topic of spending more time together, she brought it up. She wasn’t particularly shy after all these years. But with him…
She adjusted her apron, hurried to get her current customer her to-go cup of coffee with almond milk, and tired not to let the giddiness in her stomach affect her coffee.
Having a crush like this was both exhilarating and ridiculous. Made her excited to come to work every day. And also left her feeling like an idiot who really should be too old for this kind of thing.
***
That afternoon, with Rhys in his usual seat but no Akira to cover all the extra work, Nina spent most of her time running around serving customers with barely enough room to breathe. She managed to bus tables and get some of the dishes washed in the few lulls, but most of the day was hectic. She didn’t mind. Being busy was a lot better than being bored. She’d take busy every time.
Boo remained at his perch on the stool next to the register, pretending to be an ordinary pale gray cat with pale blue eyes whose name suited his general fluffy ghost look. He snoozed, or appeared to, and people watched his days away at the café. And since Jamar wasn’t in at the moment, Boo remained nearby. He didn’t talk to her during the day—too many of the customers were just ordinary people and wouldn’t understand a talking cat—so his guise as an ordinary cat worked.
Nina was pretty sure Rhys, and probably Agnes, knew what Boo was. She was pretty sure Diana knew too, but Diana and Boo ignored each other so thoroughly it was hard to tell. Agnes at least occasionally gave Boo a scritch when she ordered her tea. And Boo purred for Agnes.
Boo purred for Rhys, too, but Nina suspected that was more because Nina had a crush on him and Boo liked to stir the pot. So to speak.
On this particularly busy day, Rhys seemed to linger longer in his seat by the window, nursing his milky coffee, though his croissant was long gone. He kept his gaze out the window, his expression distant.
Her curiosity almost had her going over to ask if he wanted to talk about whatever seemed to be bothering him. But she was too busy for that kind of break, her attention would be divided. And if he did want to talk, she wanted to give him her full attention.
Still, she watched him from the corner of her eye. He showed no signs of leaving, even after his coffee was done. Just sat and stared out the window.
At three in the afternoon, a lull in new customers gave her a chance to break away from the espresso machine. The bookstore seemed busy, a lot of people wandering the stacks, but no new café patrons came through either the front door or the open wall between bookstore and café.
Boo looked up at her from his perch on his stool, his pale blue eyes narrowed. His fluffy pale gray fur spiked along his spine, which meant something wasn’t quite right. They’d been together long enough they’d found ways to communicate even without words.
Boo was ensuring she knew something was wrong.
When she cut her gaze to Rhys, Boo licked his paw.
So. Whatever the problem was, it did have to do with Rhys. And now Nina really wanted to know what was going on.
She skirted around the counter, collected a few empty mugs and left them in the plastic wash bin on a stand next to the counter—some customers returned their plates and mugs to the bin, others expected her to bus the tables. She did, and didn’t really mind, but her favorite customers were the ones who tidied up after themselves. She liked people who took the people around them into consideration.
Once she had the few tables that needed it cleared, she wiped her hands off on her apron and slowly approached Rhys.
He looked up when she was within talking distance, and despite his earlier pensive expression, he smiled at her. “Nina,” he greeted. Then he blinked and looked around. “You actually got a break in the traffic, huh?”
“Yeah. Not sure how long it will last.” She smiled, try to force a lightness into her voice, but worry made the tone sound wrong to her ears. “You want another coffee? Or maybe one of the new fruit tarts? I have two left.”
“Thanks. No. I’m good.” He glanced down at the table, a furrow between his brows. “I should… I should probably go.”
“Oh. Okay. Well. Sure. Yeah. Saturday and everything. Probably have a lot to do.”
She started to clear his coffee mug, but he briefly touched her wrist, stilling her mid-motion. He didn’t grab her arm or touch her beyond that brief contact. When he looked up at her, he was frowning.
“Do you have a minute to…” He glanced out the window, then gave a short nod and said, “I need to talk to you for a minute if you have time.”
“Sure.” She dropped into the cushioned seat opposite him. She’d have been a bit giddy about getting a chance to talk to him in something more than a fleeting way—and wasn’t that embarrassing for someone her age—but he looked so serious, her worry overwhelmed any delight.
“I’m sorry,” he started.
“For?”
“I think I might have…” He glanced out the window again. “I shouldn’t have come in so often. I think I’ve brought the wrong kind of attention to your café.”
She narrowed her eyes and then followed his gaze out the window. She didn’t see anything at first, just busy sidewalks and the open clothing boutique across the street. The Italian restaurant. The drugstore.
But something tickled an instinct. Something felt…off.
Under her breath, she murmured a spell and passed her hand over her eyes.
And there. Now she saw him. Standing in the shadows across the road, back against the brick wall between the boutique and the restaurant. He was tall, and slim. Dressed in a dark gray suit, but no coat though it was a cool enough day. People walked by him on the sidewalk without turning to look. One person seemed to almost bump off him without seeing him. That person frowned and shivered as they moved down the street.
“Who is he?” she asked.
Rhys glanced at her. “You can see him?”
“Now. Who is he?”
Rhys nodded. “His name is Virgil.”
“Like the Roman poet?”
This earned her a fleeting smile. “Like the Roman poet.” His expression turned serious again. “He’s…not a poet.”
“I got that impression. What is he?”
“A vampire.” Rhys met her gaze. He’d said that starkly and without prevaricating. Almost challenging. As if he excepted her to balk, or laugh, or dismiss the comment.
If that’s what he was waiting for, he’d be waiting for some time.
She did frown, though, and ask, “Who can disguise his presence in the middle of the day?”
That wasn’t a typical vampire skill. At least not one she’d encountered before. To be fair, she avoided vampires as much as possible. Their machinations and politics gave her a headache. She preferred staying under the radar. But after eight decades, she’d had no choice but to learn something about vampires.
Rhys gave her a considering look. Then nodded to himself before saying, “He’s unusual for his kind. He was a wizard before being turned. His magic went with him into his new undead life.” Rhys sighed. “And made him even more dangerous than the usual vampire.”
“Oh good,” she said, with no little sarcasm.
Rhys chuckled, though there was an edge to it. “I wasn’t excepting you to…”
“Accept that there are vampires?”
“Admit that you knew about them so easily,” he finished. “You’re very good at…at being human. And ordinary.”
“Thanks?”
He smiled. “It was supposed to be a compliment. Sorry. Having Virgil here has thrown me off my game.”
“So you do have game, then?”
This earned her a more natural sounding chuckle. She liked that sound.
Shame they had to go back to worrying about the vampire.
“Let’s just say I’ve seen some things and vampires are not the most unusual of those things.”
His gaze skimmed over the people sitting around the café. Briefly, he paused at Agnes. And then Diana. His attention lingered on Boo, too. Then he met her gaze and nodded.
She didn’t confirm or deny any of the implications of those looks. Though if he knew about vampires, he likely knew about witches and familiars. Even she wasn’t sure what Agnes was. But she wondered if he’d realized Diana was likely a goddess.
“What’s the vampire doing here?” she asked, returning to the subject at hand. “And why is he hovering around across the street?”
“Why he’s across the street is the easier question to answer,” Rhys said. “It’s because he likes letting me know he knows where I am. He won’t come in here. At least not yet. But…since this is a business and therefore open, he can come in without an invitation.”
She nodded. “The implied invitation that comes with being open to the public.”
Vampires couldn’t enter private homes without an invitation—and were devilish good at getting that invitation if a hapless human wasn’t careful—but businesses didn’t have the same universal protection. There was an implied invitation once an establishment opened its doors for business. Her café and the bookstore next door were both wide open to vampires.
And normally, she wouldn’t be too worried about that. They were only open during the day, with only a few hours of evening darkness in the winter. Vampires could come out during the day. No ash and instant death just because sunshine. But they were weaker in the sun. None of the things that made them extremely dangerous were in their skill set during the day. They might still be a touch stronger than the average human, but not by much. They moved at normal human speeds. They couldn’t use mesmerism—their actual greatest skill above speed and strength. Even their ability to pierce the skin with their teeth and suck blood was extra hard during the day.
So daylight business hours meant vampires weren’t a major threat—this was one of the main reasons a lot of businesses, and in fact a large part of human life, ran during the day rather than overnight. Scary things were less scary in all that sunlight. And easier to see coming.
But up to this point in her admittedly new business, Nina hadn’t seen a vampire inside the bookstore or the café.
Especially not a vampire who was also a magic wielding former wizard.
That was a new combination for her. The magic usually didn’t survive the death and rising.
“So he’s here because of you,” she said. “And he’s particularly dangerous because of his magic. Does the magic work during the day?” Magic didn’t usually have time-of-day restrictions, but this was magic in a vampire, magic that had returned to the vampire when he rose from the dead. The rules might have changed.
“It does, I’m sorry to say. But…not like it did when he was a human.”
“Stronger or weaker during the day?”
“The magic? Actually stronger than it is at night.”
“Well that’s inconvenient.”
Rhys chuckled, though he sounded strained again. “Very. It means he doesn’t have the usual…weak time that a vampire would. It’s just he has different skills to worry about, depending on the time of day and amount of sunlight he’s standing in.”
Because of daylight weakness, most vampires preferred to spend days deep underground, in places were no sunlight reached them. They didn’t grow weak if they weren’t out in the sun. And, especially with Masters trying to maintain a hive, most vampires hated showing weakness. That was the real reason they mostly avoided daylight and the sun. Not because they couldn’t be out in it, but because they didn’t want to be out in it and show their weakness.
Apparently, Virgil did not have the same problem.
She considered Rhys in silence for another few moments. When he didn’t continue with his explanations, she said, “Are you avoiding telling me why he’s taunting you? Or is that something you can’t tell me? Which is okay. You don’t have to. Really, it’s none of my business.”
She wanted it to be her business, of course. Finding out that Rhys was, shall we say, more aware of the supernatural side of life was a relief to be honest. She’d suspected. But now she knew for sure. Their cards were on the table now. At least, a couple of them. She still hadn’t admitted out loud what she was, and he hadn’t admitted out loud how he knew about the hidden worlds. But at least they both now knew they knew…something.
Since it had taken her ages just to screw up the brain cells to remember to ask his name, she could give him all the time he wanted before revealing his secrets. If he ever did. Which wasn’t a guarantee. Even if she was very curious.
“It’s not that I can’t tell you,” Rhys said, his gaze moving back across the street.
Nina followed the look. The vampire was still hovering in the shadows. When Nina looked at him, he smiled and tipped his oversized black hat at her. She blinked. Not because he’d spotted her looking at him but because he hadn’t had a hat on just a moment ago and she hadn’t seen him holding one.
“It’s that I’m afraid if I do tell you,” Rhys continued, “I’m worried you’ll ask me not to come back.” He shrugged. “I like it here. I’d like to keep coming back.”
The fact that he was worried she’d banish him from her café sounded ominous. “If you can tell me what you’re trying not to say, it would help alleviate my suspicions and probably I wouldn’t kick you out then.” Maybe. Depended on what he had to say.
But she would hate to learn he wasn’t the man she’d been hoping he was. She’d miss his smile.
Rhys sighed and leaned back in his cushioned chair, looking resigned. He met her gaze, his mouth flat, as he said, “Virgil is my brother. And, when I’m not doing my job as a lawyer… I’m a vampire hunter.”
“I see.”
“But that’s not the worst of it.”
“It’s not?”
“I’m also…a wizard.”
***
Well. That was a lot to take in one admission. Nina leaned back in her own cushioned seat and stared at Rhys Witherby. As if seeing him for the first time. The man she’d been crushing on for a while now was still there. But there was a whole new aspect to him, a whole new facet that changed her impression of him.
She was surprised to realize this new facet didn’t detract from her impression. In fact, she found herself even more fascinated by him. And that was odd enough she had to take a moment to process it all.
Boo jumped down from his perch on his stool by the register and wandered over to them as they stared at each other. He jumped up onto the cushioned chair next to her, circled once, and settled half on her lap, half in the oversized chair next to her. His reassuring purr soothed her as she stroked her hand down his soft pale gray fur.
As they both stared at Rhys.
Rhys, for his part, didn’t flinch from those stares. He met her gaze, awaiting her judgment, not hiding or trying to rush her.
She appreciated that.
The problem with Rhys being a wizard was that witches and wizards were notoriously ill suited to keep company with each other. It happened. There were even committed romantic relationships that involved wizards and witches. But it was…rare.
Witches and wizards weren’t gender designations for the same kind of magic. You could have male witches and female wizards and nonbinary or transgendered or genderfluid practitioners of either type of magic. The labels Wizard and Witch described the type of magic wielded, not the person doing the wielding.
And those different uses of magic sometimes clashed. Wizards were more brute force and power. Witches leaned more toward spells and potions. Where witches could utilize illusion spells and curses, wizards were more likely to create objects infused with magic—cursed or not—and toss around bolts of energy.
Witch magic often took time, from a few seconds to days or months depending on what was brewing. Wizard magic tended to happen fast, but also burned out quickly.
And, historically speaking, melding those two magics into a single coherent life between people could be complicated.
But she was getting ahead of herself. So far, she had a crush and some exchanged smiles with Rhys. There hadn’t even been an exchange of phone numbers. Worrying about the fact that he was a wizard was definitely premature.
Though, the fact that Boo had come to sit in her lap during this conversation spoke volumes.
“So. Virgil Witherby? Interesting name for a vampire.”
“Our father was into Roman history. Mother liked all things Welsh. They each got their choice for one son.”
“Just the two of you? No other siblings?”
“No other siblings.”
“I have a lot of questions.”
“I thought you might.”
“I’m not going to ask them all right now.”
His jaw worked with some suppressed emotion she couldn’t read. “But you’ll ask later?”
“If you’re willing to answer, I’m curious enough I probably will.”
“That means…you’ll let me come back to the café?”
“I have no reason to ban you from the place.” Yet. But she was pretty sure, based on past behavior, he wouldn’t give her a reason. At least, she hoped he wouldn’t. “For now, I would like to know why your brother, the vampire wizard, is taunting you, the vampire hunter wizard.”
“And lawyer.”
“Can’t forget that part.”
“Most offensive part according to any number of people I’ve talked to,” he said.
She tried not to chuckle and failed. “Ah, lawyers aren’t so bad.”
“How about vampire hunters and wizards?”
“Depends on who they are. You still haven’t answered my question.”
“I’m stalling. He’s out there taunting me because…” Rhys sighed. “Because I… I like it here.”
“Is he a threat to anyone in my café? Or in the bookstore?” The owner of the bookstore was just an ordinary human woman, lovely as she was, so Nina felt a responsibility for looking after that half of the business too.
“Not today.”
“In the future?”
“Depends.”
“This is like pulling teeth, Rhys. Would you prefer not to tell me?”
“Yes, but mostly because I don’t want you thinking less of me.”
“I don’t. I’m actually quite fond of you. If you’re going to tell me anything, please do. All in one go. Then we can go deal with your brother.”
“Deal with him?”
“That’ll depend on what you tell me.” She did have a spell for keeping vampires away from her door. Even an open business door. But it was a general spell and would keep all vampires out, and frankly, some of them weren’t all that bad. She’d hate to ban them from the café and bookstore just because. She hated the idea of banning any potential customers.
“Fond of me?”
“We’ll come back to that topic. Your brother first.”
He gave a nod, but something moved through his expression that made her stomach dance. Probably she should be too old for crushes and those little zings of excitement when her crush looked at her that way. She was not. But she probably should have been.
“It might seem…contrary to his nature,” Rhys started, his voice quiet and deep, “but my brother doesn’t like most vampires. He could never abide a hive structure. Even if he were the Master. He… He was turned against his will. On a hunt.”
“He was a vampire hunter before? And a wizard? Like you?”
“He was. Is.” He shook his head. “We worked together before. Sometimes we had to work alone, though. When he was turned… He went out without me because I was busy with work. An important case. I can’t really talk about it. NDAs and client privilege, but it was important. So he left me to it and went hunting a particularly nasty vampire on his own. He shouldn’t have tried it. He thought his magic would give him the edge. It usually did. But this was a Master and an old, mean one at that. Not a clever one. But vicious.”
Nina got that. She’d heard things. Even avoiding vampires, it was impossible not to hear things in her world.
“Anyway, the turning was a kind of punishment to us both. The Master thought he’d be able to control my brother after, get my brother to kill me.” Rhys rubbed a hand over his face and then looked out the window again, in the direction of his brother. “We’d made a deal, a long time ago, to ensure neither was turned. But I didn’t get to him in time to prevent… By the time I found him, the deed was done.”
“I’m sorry,” Nina murmured.
Rhys nodded absently, his gaze still across the street. “We discussed whether I should kill him or not. I didn’t want to. He wanted me to. At first.”
This time Nina didn’t ask all the questions she had. She let Rhys finish in his own time.
“When we realized he’d kept his magic after the change, and that the Master who’d turned him couldn’t control him, we…made a new plan.” Rhys finally looked at her. “We still hunt vampires.”
“Ah.” She nodded. So. The wizard turned vampire used his new nature to help in the hunt. “Did you kill the Master?”
“We haven’t yet. When he realized he couldn’t control Virgil, he vanished. We haven’t been able to find him.”
“Shame.” It would have been some kind of justice if they’d been able to kill him after all.
“Virgil is here because…” Rhys swallowed. “The last time I was distracted, it was work, and he suffered for it. I’ve been dutiful in my legal work since, but not to the exclusion of our work. The legal work comes second. That’s my repayment to Virgil for failing him last time. Nothing comes between me and our hunts anymore.”
She didn’t comment. She wasn’t sure that was a healthy response, but she also understood it at a deep level, so she wasn’t going to pass judgments or give advice. Wasn’t her place to do so anyway.
“He’s here because he thinks something might be starting to come between me and our work again.”
“A client?”
“You.”
Nina blinked. “Oh.”
That was…thrilling was probably the wrong emotion but there it was. Her stomach dancing, a smile trying to escape, a tingling of excitement racing over her skin. She probably shouldn’t be so delighted to be a distraction to him, but it meant this crush of hers wasn’t a one-way thing and that was delightful. Even if the timing was not the best.
“Virgil might be dangerous to you if he thinks you’re getting in the way.”
“Why dangerous?”
“He wasn’t unaffected by the turning. He’s not the man he was before. Some of my brother is still there. That’s why we can continue to hunt together. But he’s…angrier. More sly and vicious.” Rhys huffed, a sound that held no humor when he said, “More bloodthirsty.”
“I see.” Nina glanced down at Boo. Boo looked up at her, his pale blue eyes steady as he blinked slowly. His pupils were narrowed in the bright sunlight coming in through the windows next to them, making his pale eyes even paler. He looked like the ghost he was named for. “Okay,” she said after a moment.
“Okay…what?” Rhys asked, looking leery and uncertain.
“Let’s go talk to your brother.”
***
Boo came with her, walking at her side, as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. Before leaving the café, she asked Agnes to keep an eye on things, knowing the older woman wouldn’t let anything untoward happen. And knowing, or at least being pretty sure, Agnes would understand this was not an ordinary human situation.
The day was cool and breezy, a sharp scent of approaching winter in the air. The fall had that quality of light she loved, fading but still bright. It was hard to explain but she could feel the seasons turning and the feel of autumn was her favorite.
She’d left on her apron, but because the café had been warm, she’d been wearing a short sleeve t-shirt with the café’s logo on the front as she worked. The cold breeze made her skin tingle now.
Rhys followed her outside, moving to stand beside her. “Are you sure about this?”
“Certain.” This was her place of business and she had no intention of letting a vampire disrupt things. Or threaten her. Or his own brother for that matter. Rhys was welcome in her café for as long as he wanted to visit.
The rest…
Well, that wasn’t any of his brother’s business.
Virgil remained where he was in the shadows across the street, not moving for a long moment. But the smirk he’d been flashing her and Rhys while they sat inside the café had vanished. And she could just see the glitter of yellow in his eyes beneath the wide brim of his hat.
After a full minute of just staring at each other, Virgil finally tipped his hat at them, stepped away from the wall that had shadowed him, and moved across the street. He didn’t bother checking for traffic—either pedestrian or car—and nothing and no one got in his way.
“Nice trick,” she said. Not raising her voice. He was a vampire. He’d hear her. Even in the sunlight.
Virgil’s smirk returned as he joined them on the sidewalk. “Rhys,” he greeted. “How unexpected finding you here.”
Nina rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help it. “I like sarcasm as much as the next person,” she said, “but can we manage without it for a few minutes. We have something to settle.”
“Do we?” Virgil shifted his smirk to her, but the expression faded to something significantly more threatening. And the yellow in his eyes glittered.
She felt the push of his magic then. Not a hit of power, just a little brush of it, a flicker of raw magic to rub against her skin. It created a nails-on-chalkboard irritation that made the hairs on her arms rise. Boo let out a very quiet growling hiss.
Nina murmured a word, pressed a button on her apron, and shook her head as her protective shield came up. “Don’t test me, wizard. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
“How old are you, witch?”
“Old enough to know that’s a rude question.”
This brought out a reluctant smile that still looked more like a smirk. “He’s too easily distracted, but I can see why. In this case.”
“I’m flattered?”
“No offense,” Virgil said.
“Right.”
“We have work to do.” He dropped the pleasantries and the reluctant smile. “You interfere.”
“I would never interfere in vampire hunters doing their job,” she said. “Not very fond of vampires myself.”
“Ouch?”
“No offense.”
“Right,” he said.
She held his gaze, a staring contest that normally would have been a very stupid move with a vampire. Even in the daylight, she could feel the pull of his thrall. He was very strong as a vampire if she could feel that at this time of day. That combined with his wizard’s magic would make him a formidable enemy. She wasn’t here to make enemies. But she wasn’t going to be intimidated either.
And it was daylight after all. His mesmerism wasn’t dominant enough to pull her under right now. Not through her shield. Not with Boo at her side.
Boo rubbed against her leg, giving her that magical balance and boost that a witch got from their long-time familiar.
Virgil’s steady gaze flicked to his brother after a moment, when it became clear he wouldn’t be able to roll her under in the middle of the day. She wouldn’t be able to play that game at night, though. His brush of magic had given her a very good sense of the flavor and strength of that part of his nature. And that was strong as well. Not a wizard she’d take lightly.
But then, she wasn’t the sort of witch to be taken lightly either.
To his brother, he said, “I get it. But it’s a distraction. And you promised me no more distraction.”
“I promised no more work distractions. This isn’t work.”
“No.” Virgil redirected his intense stare to Nina. “It’s not.”
“It’s coffee,” Nina said. “And pastries. You should try some. You might like them.” Vampires could eat food if they really wanted to. Most just felt no need to consume solid food. And honestly, if they were going to, pastries wouldn’t have been top of the list. But the croissants and muffins she served were really good.
“Don’t be obtuse,” Virgil said. “Or attempt to be funny. This is a life or death choice for him.” Virgil looked at his brother. “And it is a choice. Life or death. Because when you get distracted, someone dies.”
Before Nina could comment, Virgil turned and walked away, fast enough to show his anger. Within a few hundred yards he’d blended into the shadows along the sidewalk again, making him hard to see, a dark shape moving in and out of the darker patches along the sidewalk. The only reason she could see that much was because of the clarity spell she’d swept over her eyes earlier. Otherwise, it would have looked like he’d disappeared.
“Not sure that went very well,” she murmured, mostly to herself and Boo. “Definitely didn’t settle anything.”
“Except for the stakes,” Rhys answered. “No pun intended.”
Despite the fact that the moment was too serious for it, she chuckled. She liked a good pun. “That life or death business? Is he threatening to kill you? Or just warning you that other lives are on the line, like his own had been?”
“A little of both,” Rhys said. “We’ve managed this long without him killing me. But our…alliance is strained sometimes. His nighttime nature, the vampiric element is a lot craftier and mean. We’re still brothers, but I think I might be the only one who thinks of that relationship as it once was. Virgil uses those feelings. But I don’t know that he…sees me as a brother anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured again, glancing at the side of his face. They’d both been staring at the place where Virgil had disappeared. “And if you need to stay away from the café to be safe, I understand. I’ll miss one of my best customers of course.” She was trying to joke but it sounded awkward and flat.
“Just a customer, huh?” He turned and caught her gaze.
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” she said. Admitting to a crush right now felt selfish.
“Are you going to banish me from the café for my own good?” he asked.
“No. You’re a grown man. You can make your own decisions. But I won’t make things worse or try to influence that decision. It’s up to you.”
“And if I make things worse?”
“How would you do that?”
He stepped very close, so that he was looking a little down at her and she had to just tilt her head back a bit to keep holding his gaze. “Nina, I don’t just come to the café for the good coffee and croissants.”
That made her stomach do the fluttery dance. Her pulse bounded a little harder and she was glad there wasn’t a vampire around to hear that anymore. She wasn’t sure what to say to his declaration after just insisting she wouldn’t complicate his decision by admitting to her feelings. But she suspected her shaky breath and the way her attention dropped to his mouth probably gave her away.
Boo chose that moment to bump against her leg. Hard. Hard enough to shover her a step away from Rhys. She glared down at the big cat. He was as big as a medium sized dog, but he rarely used that size for much of anything these days. The shove was unusual. When she glared at him, he meowed loudly. A warning sound. Then he bumped his head against her leg again.
“I think your cat wants us to keep our distance,” Rhys said, also looking down at Boo.
“I think he’s interfering where he wasn’t asked.”
Boo had the temerity to sit on the sidewalk and lick his paw as if he wasn’t an interfering nag.
“He’s right, though,” Rhys said.
She glanced back up at him.
“I need to think clearly about all this. Before things get too complicated.”
He was right. She knew he was right. She wasn’t happy about the fact that he was right. But probably later she would be.
“Okay. You do what you need to do.” She forced a smile. “The café will be here when you’re ready.” She almost said the “if” out loud but couldn’t bring herself to open the possibility that he might never come back. She just didn’t want to put those words into the universe.
He raised his hand a little, then made a fist and shoved both hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“Have a good afternoon,” he said, trying to smile. He glanced down at Boo and gave him a little nod, then walked away, going in the opposite direction of his brother.
Nina watched him until he was a block away, before finally turning back to the coffee shop. She couldn’t watch him disappear around a corner. That would feel too final. This way, she could maintain the illusion that he’d come back. That things could continue as they had been.
That she hadn’t just watched Rhys Witherby walk away for the last time.
***
Two weeks passed without Rhys returning to the café. Two weeks was a long time. Since she’d opened her doors, he hadn’t gone two full weeks without coming in at least once, even for a coffee to go. He’d told her, early on, that he worked in the neighborhood. Which meant avoiding the café would take effort.
The avoidance had to be deliberate.
He wasn’t coming back.
By the second Saturday, Nina accepted he’d made his choice. She couldn’t begrudge him that decision. And really, she hadn’t known him well enough for this level of sadness. She didn’t want to call the feeling rejection, but it felt like rejection.
Yet, she did understand. Given his life, his brother, and his sense of protectiveness, she knew he’d made the choice to avoid the café as a way to protect her. Not just to keep his brother from killing him. Although, honestly, that would have been a perfectly excellent reason for him to stay away, too. She didn’t want him killed.
Whatever his reasoning, the result was the same. He wasn’t coming back to the café. And whatever budding…whatever had been happening there was not going to happen. She needed to get her head out of the clouds and get back to work. She had a business to run.
Fortunately, Akira was back, so Nina left a lot of the customer attention to Akira while Nina made coffees and teas and dished up pastries and stayed behind the counter, pretending to clean and do paperwork. As it was Saturday, things were busy, but not as busy as the last two weekends. That gave her a little too much time to think, which was bad, but it also meant she didn’t feel guilty leaving so much for Akira to handle.
When the mid-afternoon lull meant there was nothing keeping Akira or Nina occupied, Nina took a break and headed into the bookstore. The owner was off that day but her second was behind the register, ringing up a couple of young women who had stacks of books between them. That made Nina smile.
She disappeared into the stacks, losing herself in looking at some new titles, reading blurbs, admiring some of the pretty covers. She picked out a new Mystery—she was a little too tender for a Romance—and took it up to the counter. It wasn’t an answer, but the new novel would keep her brain occupied tonight so she didn’t wallow. For some reason, she felt like if she could get through today, the day that marked two full weeks, she’d be okay.
After buying her book, she took a walk around the block, enjoying the fall sunshine. She finally returned to the café feeling somewhat refreshed and a lot less heartsore. Boo had remained in his usual spot on the too-small stool by the register all day, so she gave him a little scratch on the way past.
He rumbled a purr and then did a little cough thing that was unusual enough she frowned down at him. He stretched, his upper body hanging off the stool and his paws reaching behind her. She continued to frown down at him when he flopped again.
“You okay?” she murmured quietly.
Boo met her gaze and then stretched again, lengthening his entire upper body and his legs very far out in front of him.
She followed his reaching paw, looking across the café in the direction he was pointing.
To see Rhys sitting in his usual spot by the window, a coffee in front of him as he stared out the window.
She set her book behind the counter, replaced her apron, and crossed the café to join him. “Can I get you a muffin? A croissant maybe?” she asked, unable to resist a grin.
He looked up at her, his brown eyes sparking, his expression relaxed. “The coffee is good for now. Thanks.”
“So.” She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her apron. Feeling both awkward and delighted to see him again. “You’re back.”
“I’m back.”
“To say goodbye or…?”
“Back to stay,” he said quietly.
Her heartbeat started that ridiculous thumping again and her stomach did the fluttery dance.
He glanced at the cushioned seat across from him. “Have time for a break?”
She glanced back at Akira who was grinning at her. Boo also seemed to be grinning, though it was hard to tell as he’d curled back up and had his eyes closed, pretending to sleep.
Nina faced Rhys again. “I can take a few minutes to talk.”
She settled in the seat across from him
He smiled at her.
He had a really great smile.
***
Thanks for reading NINA AND BOO AND RHYS WITHERBY TOO. I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like your own personal eBook copy of this story, you can find it for sale here. You can also peruse the previous Café stories that are individually available for sale here. Including the first story featuring Nina, Boo, and Rhys, BOO AND THE WITCH AT THE CAFE.
And don’t forget to check back on May 15th for the next Free story from The Café!
NINA AND BOO AND RHYS WITHERBY TOO 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.