The Sweet Series Box Set: Books 1-4

by Bailey Ardisone

  “Yeah, that’s the Bed and Breakfast my parents own,” Rydan answered Zaylie’s question the same time he slung his arm over my shoulders and pulled me close into him. Little did he know, he helped keep me upright. But for the first time ever, it felt a little strange. Especially since Mycah was watching. And it killed me to feel that way. I didn’t want to lose my Rydan—my best friend in the whole wide world...and those beyond.

  “I’ll just pop in to use your telephone and call my parents.” Zaylie took faster steps toward the B&B, her anxiousness to see her family taking over.

  “Here, just use my cell,” Rydan said, handing it to her.

  “Oh, yeah, thanks. I’ll just be over here. I’ll bring it in to you when I’m done.” She took it and went around the side of the building, looking for privacy. I didn’t blame her. That was going to be one heck of a phone call.

  You’d think after being away for an entire year, things would look different. But they weren’t. Kennebunkport was exactly the same as when I had left it. As we made our way up the O’Malley’s Bed and Breakfast steps, it felt like only yesterday I had been doing the same thing while on my way to my room—the Duck Room. I guessed it should feel that way, because in my reality I had only been gone for a month or so. It was the Earthly realm that went through a year’s worth of time, not me.

  A wave of déjà vu passed over me as I placed my hand over the door-handle with Rydan close on my heels. I closed my eyes to relish the stolen feelings returning to me, back when Mycah and I spent time here—back when the complicated things were actually more simple. I just didn’t know it at the time.

  I’d gladly take Mycah and Rydan fighting and wrestling out on the front lawn of the B&B over our current situation. Almost anything from back then was better than Zaylie being abducted by the Black Eagles, then killed, and now our majestic Willow was destroyed. At least she was alive again. But our Weeping Willow…Mycah and Rydan’s chance to go save their people…Lissë. Those things were now gone. The loss of my connection to my Fëa was crippling. I’d never get to feel her skin beneath my touch again. Feel her strength and comfort flowing through my own veins. It made me shudder.

  The old-wood creaking sound of the antique door opening pulled my focus to the here-and-now as I took my first step inside. Marie, the manager of the B&B, lifted her head up with a smile already on her face, ready to greet her customer. But once her eyes lay upon me, and then on Rydan, she looked to have turned into a block of ice.

  “Hey, Marie,” I said guiltily with a slight smile and little, tentative wave. I was at a loss for words, and Rydan wasn’t any help. Of course.

  Silent tears gushed down her face as she brought a shaking hand to cover her mouth. Her other hand gripped the side of the reception desk, as if she was having a hard time staying upright, and her grey eyes stayed locked on Rydan. I pushed Rydan toward her, rolling my eyes. Gosh. He really needed to learn how to show affection to people who weren’t me.

  Rydan stayed standing in the middle of the darn room, not moving. Shaking my head, I started to say something to him, but stopped once Anna poked her head out of the office that sat behind where Marie stood. Without even taking another second of time, she already moved to Rydan, crying, and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back with his head bent, burying his face in her neck—she was a little shorter than him.

  Marie didn’t wait long before joining in their reunion. She also wrapped her arms around Rydan from his side, crying almost as hard as Anna was. Marie had known Rydan since he was born and was basically part of their family. I noticed I was also crying, so I wiped the tears from my cheeks and silently giggled from happiness. It was all just too sweet to bear.

  Anna refused to let go of her son as she said, “I thought we’d never see you again.” Rydan really wasn’t much for words, and now was no different. He remained silent, but continued to hug the only mother he had ever known.

  “I’ll go call Darren,” Marie said through sniffles. Darren, Anna’s husband, had always been a great father to Rydan. I couldn’t wait for him to hear the news of Rydan’s return. But before Marie left the room, she pulled Mycah into a hug real quick and told him it was good to see him again, and then gave me one, whispering, “I’m so glad you and Rydan are back.”

  “Thanks,” I matched her whisper, returning her hug. That must’ve been when Anna noticed me, because she finally pulled away from Rydan.

  “Nariella, it is so good to see you,” she cried as she embraced me tightly.

  “You too,” I replied, hugging her back. Before I had left, it almost seemed like Anna and Darren had blamed me for Rydan’s disappearance. But I understood that they were just going through a very difficult situation, and I, in no way held it against them. I had been suffering the same loss as they were at the time, and I probably would’ve blamed me too if I didn’t know where he really went.

  "Come on, let’s go sit down and wait for your dad,” Anna said to both of us. Then her focus went to Mycah, who had been waiting patiently from behind at the door. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Um–”

  She cut herself off and looked to Rydan and me in confusion, waiting for an introduction to who was with us. I had completely forgotten about having to introduce Rydan’s long-lost brother to them once we arrived.

  This was going to be interesting.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Oh, Anna, this is Mycah,” I started to explain, gesturing to him, “um, Rydan’s brother. Mycah, this is Anna O’Malley, Rydan’s mother.” In this moment, awkward was an understatement.

  “It’s so great to meet you. An honor, really,” Anna greeted politely and breathlessly. I could see the shock resonating in her eyes. I wondered if she ever thought this moment would come.

  “The honor is mine,” Mycah returned with not much excitement to his tone. I rolled my eyes. Maybe he didn’t want to think of this woman as Rydan’s mother, since they had one out there already, but whether he liked it or not, she was all Rydan had known.

  Marie walked back in screeching, “You’re Rydan’s brother?”

  “Don’t say it too loudly, others might hear you,” Mycah quipped with a wink. Marie smiled wide and patted his shoulder. They had developed a friendship over the time Mycah had been staying here. None of them had known who he truly was. Heck, neither did Rydan and I.

  “You two know each other?” Anna asked in shock, but quickly got over it once Marie explained how and why. Anna dried her puffy eyes and wet cheeks with the back of her hands, then wiped them on her black slacks. “I’m such a mess. I’m sorry you have to see me like this. I wasn’t expecting to see my son, I mean, to see Rydan and his brother out of the blue like this.”

  “Um, and Ender, who you should’ve met already, is my father, actually,” I shyly stuttered. “And Naminé is a friend.” Embarrassment colored my face. It was awkward using the father-term out loud. But that was what he was. It was best I just went ahead and got used to it already.

  “Boy. All sorts of things are coming to light,” Anna mused, slipping a silver chain from her neck up over her head and handed it to Rydan. It was his necklace, the one with his key on it. How’d she get that? Taking Rydan by his forearm, she led the way to the sitting area. “Yes, they’re staying at our house. The B&B is booked solid, so there were no rooms here when they came. They gave me your necklace, saying you had asked for me to help them, so I took them in.”

  “That was very nice of you, thank you.” Brilliant thinking on Rydan’s part! As we followed, I was torn between going with them to the sitting room and being a part of the life-changing discussion Rydan was about to experience, or taking off to go collapse in a pile of sleep. Except, I didn’t have a car, and the O’Malleys lived way out of town. Then I thought, were we even welcome to sit in on their private matters?

  “Hey, Ry, we should let you have your time–” I started to say, but Rydan cut me off.

  “No, stay. I want you both to stay,” he responded, looking at each one of us.

/>   Anna sat down on the periwinkle-plaid loveseat, pulling Rydan down with her. It was a small room, leaving only enough space for two other upholstered chairs in the corners, with a large coffee table in the middle. I let Mycah have one of the stylish chairs, while I sat down on the floor next to his legs, leaving the other chair available for Marie when she returned. I was most comfortable next to him, anyway.

  Marie walked in then. “May I get anyone something to drink? Maybe tea or coffee? Water?”

  Mycah and I agreed to tea, so Anna suggested Marie make a pot for everyone. Marie told us that Darren was on his way over.

  Anna let out a short sigh. “Rydan, I want you to know how very happy I am that you’re home. Words cannot express how much.”

  “I know. I’m sorry I left like I did, there were just some things I needed to take care of,” Rydan started to explain his behavior. I was curious on how he was going to explain without giving away our secrets. This was going to be interesting for me to hear as well.

  Darren marched in, causing Rydan to stand up. “I was right around the corner. I came the second Marie called. God, son. I’m so glad you’re here.”

  He snatched Rydan up in a hug the moment he reached him. Anna had fresh tears filling her light blue eyes.

  “I had some things to figure out. I’m sorry I hurt you,” Rydan apologized. He gestured for his dad to sit where he had been sitting just before, which he accepted.

  Rydan explained quickly who Mycah was to Darren, and then sat on the coffee table. Marie brought in the tea on a tray, then poured everyone a cup.

  “Please tell us where you’ve been and why you left in the first place,” Anna pleaded as she took her husband’s hand in hers.

  “Like I said, I had things to figure out. What I really want to know is why you lied to me all these years. Was I adopted or something?” Rydan jumped right into the discussion by bringing up the big elephant in the room immediately. I practically choked on my tea. Rydan wasn’t about beating around the bush, was he?

  They both shifted uncomfortably, their eyes darting from their clasped hands to Rydan’s eyes, then back again. “Yes, we adopted you. We’re sorry we didn’t tell you about it, son, but can you at least try to see it from our point of view? We were afraid to lose you. Honestly, we thought about telling you, but...” Darren seemed to struggle with how to explain their decision, so instead he changed the subject. His eyes bounced from Mycah’s face to Rydan’s. “Is it true? He’s really your brother?”

  “Yeah, I guess it is.” Rydan stood up and ran a hand through his hair. “Where did you adopt me from? How did I get there?”

  Anna spoke, “We had been on the waiting list to adopt for some time. We have a friend who works at a children’s home in Waterville, and she knew how much we wanted a child, not a newborn, unlike most couples who want to adopt. When they found you, she called in a few favors for us.”

  “How did they find me?” Rydan inquired in a husky voice. He must’ve had so many questions weighing on his mind for a while, because there was no stopping them from piling out of his mouth now.

  “They don’t know. It was the strangest thing. The police officer that brought you into them said he only saw that you were there around the corner from him, but he didn’t know how you got there. They guessed you were around two or three years old. You said your name was Rydan,” Anna continued to explain.

  “And I’m guessing I had this on me?” Rydan held up the ancient key from around his neck.

  “Right. That was the only personal item you were carrying. It was found in your pocket,” Anna responded quietly. “Rydan, if we had known you had family out there, we probably would’ve told you sooner. We truly didn’t think there’d be anyone coming for you. Have you met your birth parents, then? Is that what Mycah and you were doing out there?”

  “No, I haven’t met them. My biological father is dead, and I wasn’t able to reach my mother,” Rydan answered one of Anna’s questions solemnly. She flinched as he said “my mother,” referring to someone other than her.

  I cleared my throat and played with an invisible string from the hem of my jeans. It was uncomfortable sitting here like this, listening to their private matters. I felt like I intruded, and it was even weirder that Mycah sat right there as they talked about his family and him.

  Anna composed herself, then spoke sympathetically in her motherly way, “Oh, sweetheart. I am so very sorry.”

  “Yeah, we’re sorry to hear that, son. We’re sorry to both of you.” Darren laid a hand on Rydan’s shoulder and looked at Mycah. There was a pause of silence for a few minutes before he spoke up again. “We’re here for you. Anything you need. If you need to talk about it, we’re here for you.”

  Rydan nodded his head.

  “C’mon now, tell us about everything.” Darren continued. “I mean, where have you been all this time?”

  Standing up, I squeezed Rydan’s arm as I whispered in his ear, “I’m gonna check on Zaylie. And maybe Mycah and I should go see if Ender and them are okay. Mind if I take off?”

  “Don’t you want me to come with you?” Rydan asked in return, matching my whisper.

  “I would, but I think you should stay here and spend some alone time with your parents. Mycah and I will meet up with you later. The only thing is, we need a car.”

  Darren interrupted by asking, “Everything all right?”

  “Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just telling Rydan how we should give you guys some privacy. I have some things to take care of, anyway. Um, you said the Duck Room was occupied now, right? Do you happen to still have my stuff somewhere?” I asked shyly.

  “Of course, sweetie. We packed your things in a box and kept it in the hall closet for you in hopes you’d return for it yourself,” Anna answered.

  “Okay, great. Thank you so much. I’m just gonna go step outside real quick before I go up and take a shower.” I was in some serious need of personal hygiene therapy. It had been way too long since I last bathed and put on fresh clothes. I was so grateful they didn’t throw my stuff out and also that it was a shared bathroom that anyone could use right in the hallway.

  Mycah already stood, waiting to leave with me. Darren and Anna both stood up, too, and said their goodbyes.

  “Hey, mind if they use your car?” Rydan asked Anna for me.

  “Sure, I think that’d be okay,” Anna responded kindly. She turned to me and smiled. “We have Darren’s here also, so you can always bring it to our house later if we’re gone by the time you get back.”

  “Thank you again. I really appreciate it.” I hugged both her and Darren, and then Rydan. Anna led us to the front to get her keys out of her purse so that I’d have them by the time we were done.

  Zaylie walked in then, handing me Rydan’s cell phone. “My family is pulling up. Thank you again for everything, Nari. I love you!”

  She threw her arms around me, and I hugged her back. She gave Mycah a quick hug before running back out the door and down the steps to her parents, who had just pulled up. Mycah placed his hand at the small of my back as we watched together from the window. It looked like Liam had pulled up then, too. They all immediately exited their vehicles with super-speed and ran to Zaylie.

  I heard her faintly through the window shout, “Mum, Dad!” as they all tackled each other with bear hugs. Next she said, “Des!”

  But no one said anything in return; they just hugged the stuffing out of her. Tears streamed down all their faces as she laughed. There was another person with them, someone I didn’t recognize, but I guessed it was her cousin Lachlan.

  Liam unexpectedly lifted her off the ground while holding onto her with everything he had, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, hugging him back while laughing. I was able to hear him say, “I missed you so much.”

  Wiping a few of my own tears, I grinned in pure, overwhelming happiness. It had been obvious to me that Liam liked Zaylie even before this, but whatever had been holding them back, I was sure just got eliminated. H
ow could Zaylie resist him after that? I giggled a little at the thought.

  “You alright, beautiful?” Mycah whispered next to me.

  “Yeah, I’m great.” And that was mostly true. I was more than happy that Zaylie was back with her family. The problem was, there was still that heaviness weighing inside my body. I wasn’t normal. There was something gravely wrong with me, but I didn’t know how to fix it, or even if I could. And it was scaring the heck out of me. But there was nothing I could do, and so I did my best to ignore it.

  I trudged upstairs to take a shower while Mycah waited downstairs. He’d take one next, he had said. Being back in the bathroom of the B&B was so strange, but familiar at the same time. It smelled the same as I remembered it, and it looked the same, but I felt completely different.

  After my shower and drying my hair, I threw it up in a ponytail. Eeeks—you could see my...my...elf ears. Peering closer into the mirror, I examined them in detail, analyzing their shape and appearance. They...I...looked so weird. Not only did I feel different, but clearly, I looked different, too. I could hear my heart pounding against the bones in my chest as I slid my fingers over their foreign shape. I wouldn’t call them pointy, more like slightly cornered at the end. They were just different from what I was used to.

  Of course I believed I wasn’t human after finding out the truth and feeling the power running through my veins while in Luïnil, but seeing the evidence for myself for the first time sent adrenaline coursing throughout my body. I pulled some tufts of hair over the tops of them to cover up the elf evidence.

  Once I was cleaned up and ready to go, Rydan had come out of the sitting room. I had been waiting for Mycah at the reception desk with Marie. He descended the stairs the exact same time Rydan seemed to be done chatting with his parents.