Page 121 of When Wrecked Meets Ruined
But they rise up, up from the dust and the ashes
To conquer a world that time’s forgotten
Rulers of a broken kingdom
Honest and loyal and brave
Brothers bound by blood and honor
The Kings of a Broken World
It’s different from the other songs, and I keep wondering what it means. Is Ridge okay???
I have no idea. I’m too chicken to ask Quinn about him. I told her Ridge is a forbidden topic. She honors my wishes.
PART3
CHAPTERFORTY-FOUR
Evie
Four YearsLater
June
One week after I finished my first year of medical school, I flew to LA. My best friend was getting married, and she asked me to be her maid of honor. I arrived on Sunday afternoon, six days before the wedding.
It was my first time on an airplane. My first time in California. And I was standing at the baggage claim with Allie, who sat next to me on the flight. She was a petite brunette, only a year older than me, and married to her high school sweetheart, stationed at an air force base in Los Angeles. On the three-and-a-half-hour flight, I’d heard her whole life story.
“Thank you so much,” Allie said, snapping up the handle of her hard case. “I couldn’t have survived this flight without you.”
“Noise-canceling headphones.” I pointed to the headphones looped around my neck. “Invest in them before your next flight. Or just in general.”
Allie laughed. “Thanks again. Enjoy the wedding. And good luck with med school.”
“Thanks. And thank you for getting me to the baggage claim. Bye, Ollie.” I waved goodbye to Allie's baby, Oliver who gave me a gummy smile. Then I watched her reunite with her husband. He swooped Oliver up in his arms and kissed his baby and his wife as if it had been years since he last saw them instead of the two weeks she’d been visiting her parents and sister in Dallas.
They walked away, a happy little family unit, and I felt a longing for something I’d lost but didn’t know how to find. An ache in my heart that never went away. Even now, after all these years.
With a sigh, I turned back around and watched for my bag. Black, like everyone else’s.
I’d missed it on the first rotation, but now I spotted it coming around the conveyor belt and moved closer, wedging myself between two other passengers so I could grab it.
“Let me help you,” the guy next to me said. He’d tried to talk to me in Dallas when I was waiting at the gate. I’d shot him down.
“No. I’ve got it.” I wrestled my bag away from him and dragged it off the carousel. After I double-checked the luggage tag and confirmed it was mine, I pulled up the handle and moved out of the way so the other passengers could claim their luggage and scanned the signs.
Where did I have to go to catch an Uber? Shit. Airports were confusing, and this terminal was massive.
“Are you here for business or pleasure?” the guy asked, invading my personal space.
I shot him an annoyed look. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, with dark hair shaved around the sides and longer on top. A gym rat in a tank top with too bulked up muscles to be attractive. Not my type.
I brushed him off and walked away, dragging my suitcase behind me. It glided over the smooth polished floor, and I tried to look as if I knew where I was going when I didn’t have a clue.
“Hey!” he called, catching up to me. “We could hook up. I could show you around.”
I glared at him. “Take the hint. I’m not interested.”
