Hands Stained Red

Twenty One ~ Kira

Once I leave Rya, I quickly make my way back outside the cabin to where the ceremony will be held. A red carpet leads to a wooden arch and a set of white garden chairs are on either side of it. It's a bit cliche but nobody really cares, it's all for show anyway.

I slide into my seat between Mylo and Bella's mother. She gasps as I sit down and grabs my hand, "Your dress is stunning," she gushes, "You must be Kira."

I look down at my dress that Rya helped me pick out last week. The pink floral pattern on white really is beautiful and the short front and long behind makes it look really classy.

I nod, "That's me, and your dress is beautiful too Mrs Eden."

"Please, call me Agnes," she smoothes out the lavender fabric tenderly, "I bought it in hopes I would get to wear to Bella's wedding but I never got to attend. I know now that they were in Portugal for the wedding so it wouldnt have been appropriate anyway."

Her eyes glide over to Kaden standing by the arch. He's checking his cufflinks and then opens up his blazer to get something from his pocket and metal glints in the light, "Is that a gun?" Agnes says softly.

Mylo leans across me, "Please dont be worried ma'am. My brother can't shoot for shit."

"Mylo, I'm about five seconds from proving you wrong," Kaden says lowly but with a smirk on his face.

Agnes chuckles even if there is nerves below it, "Sorry, Bella keeps me away from all of the 'bad stuff'"

I have to laugh at her phrasing which only makes her giggle more, "Well Rya tries to do the same with me but I keep managing to get tangled up in it," I say.

"In what way," she reaches into her bag and pulls out a tube of smarties, "Want one?"

"Ohh," Mylo says, "That's where Bella gets it from."

Bella leans forward a bit further down the line, "What do I get from who? Oh, are those smarties?"

Once we've finished laughing and the smarties have been handed out I go back to Agnes's question, "I love Rya to pieces and I cant leave her. That unfortunately means getting wrapped up in all of the 'bad stuff'."

Images of the rings appear in my head and I close my eyes to make them go away. Agnes pats my knee, "She's lucky to have a friend like you."

Bagpipes start to play and I jump. Mylo winces beside me and I roll my eyes at him. Everyone swivels in their seat to watch for Rya coming in. Kaden almost looks nervous as he stands there in his suit.

It takes a minute or two for Rya and Viktor to appear and when they do, Agnes bursts into tears beside me. Rya does look stunning in her dress but her smile doesnt reach her eyes.

They walk down the aisle and I watch as both the bride and groom take a deep breath as they meet. Viktor reluctantly lets go of Rya and places a lingering kiss on her forehead before moving to stand beside Bella.

Kaden looks Rya up and down and then takes her hands in his in what looks like a genuine show of affection but who knows.

Rya bites down on her lip and laughs under her breath before brushing her hair behind her shoulder and then staring at the bouquet in her hands. I lift my hands to her and she tosses it at me.

I gasp as I manage to grab them but miss the ribbon guarding my hands from the thorns and stab my palms, "Shit," Rya mutters and I shake my head, trying to hide my pain.

Rya cringes but then puts a smile on her face as she looks back at Kaden.

Mylo takes the flowers from me and presses a tissue into my now slightly bleeding hands, "Cant have you ruining that beautiful dress," he whispers in my ear.

I mouth a thanks and wipe at the cuts on my palms before balling up the tissue and tucking it under the strap of the corsage on my wrist and take the flowers back.

I look back at the couple and see immediately that Rya isnt listening to a word the priest is saying. She's smiling at Kaden but her eyes keep drifting as she thinks about something else.

"This is so wrong," Mylo mutters, a trace of humour in his words, "at what point do we object?"

I try not to laugh and interrupt the ceremony but I could tell how serious he was being. I had never thought how strange it must be from Kaden's side either.

He's an adult with nearly 30 years of life experience marrying an 18 year old girl days after her boyfriend was murdered.

Honestly, I'm surprised we got this far. When the results came through that the blood belonged to Quinn, I was almost certain that Rya was going to call everything off. I think there was a part of her, as there was a part of me, who hoped that the blood wouldn't be a positive match. But I spoke to the forensic pathologist myself and they confirmed that the heart could belong to no one other than Quinn Prescott.

"Do you, Kaden Flynn, take Rya Guerreiro to be your lawfully wedded wife?" The officiator asks.

"I do."

"And do you, Rya Guerreiro, take Kaden Flynn to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"So by the power abided in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The crowd cheers and I manage to smile and clap as the couple lean in and kiss with just the right amount of intensity to fool the audience.

They break apart and turn to the crowd holding hands. Everyone claps as they walk down the aisle and into the cabin again. Mylo grabs my hand and we make a move to follow them, getting in the house only a minute later but once inside we see Kaden standing alone.

He looks bewildered as he looks between us and the open front door, "She just took my gun and ran," he says, "She said she was going after the person that took Quinn."

My eyes widen, "They're here? Did she say who it was?"

Kaden looks concerned as he straightens up and looks me dead in the eye, "She said that Poppy Georgia killed Quinn."