Burn marks.

But it was the bump sticking out from her lower belly that pulled my focus the most. Her skin was stretched tight, and everything clicked into place. Why she’d been so tired and hungry lately. Why she’d started wearing clothes that hid her figure.

Ciana was pregnant.

“Nova,” Garret whispered weakly, straightening and stumbling forward a few steps.

The movement pulled my attention to the other tables, one of which was empty, but the other was…

“No!” My roar rocked the entire house. I jerked forward, my hands going to the table, desperate to put the pieces back together again. “Nova?” Tears spilled from my eyes as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.

No hands. No feet. But the same white romper thing Nova had been wearing earlier. Blond hair attached to a head that was…caved in, making it impossible to identify the face.

And around her neck, the Russian rings with RYAN’S HEART on them.

She never took the necklace off, not even to shower. And there it was, lying around the neck of a broken body that was unrecognizable.

“Sh-she was like that when I woke up,” Ciana sobbed behind me. “They…they hurt me over and over again, b-but all I could do was look at…Nova.”

“Where’s Lis?” Garret had gotten control of himself, but I couldn’t tear my eyes off Nova’s necklace to look at him. “Ciana, where is she?”

“I-I don’t know,” she cried. “She wasn’t here when I woke up. Just Nova.”

“No.” The denial tasted metallic on my tongue. “No. This can’t be Nova. It can’t.” Goddamn it, my heart was still beating. If this was her, why was the fucking organ still pounding away in my chest? Why hadn’t I died the moment her heart had stopped?

A soft hand touched my back, but still, I couldn’t tear my gaze away. “That’s her necklace, Ryan. I saw her wearing that same outfit before she left the house tonight.”

“I know. I know, but it can’t be her.” I pressed a fist to my heart. “It’s not her.”

“They said it was her.” Ciana’s voice was steadier now, colder. “They laughed and told me how much fun it was to kill her. I didn’t break, Papa. I didn’t scream or cry. I just looked at Nova. So quiet and beautiful. Even like this, she’s beautiful, isn’t she? Then… Then…”

“Then?” Garret gritted out.

“Then she took Nova’s hands and feet and put them in a cooler and left.”

“Who?” Mom demanded.

“Sheena O’Brion,” Ciana spat out the name before she burst into tears once again, but the sound of that name caused my blood to ice over. From across the basement, I heard Pop curse, while Mom seemed to turn to stone beside me. “Papa, please, I just want to go home now. I need…to see a doctor. The babies…”

“Babies?” Zio rasped.

“The crash knocked me out, and I haven’t felt any of them moving,” she explained. “They just started to flutter around in there recently, but I’ve felt nothing since I woke up. One of them is always jumping around. I-I’m scared, Papa.”