Fate and Destiny (The Fated Series, #2)

Chapter 48 - Rohana - Morana

"Hello, Sibella." Gods how long have I waited for this moment. "Going somewhere?"

She takes a step back, but I match her and take one forward until her back hits the edge of the counter. "Ro, Gods I thought you all were dead after Kerrigan-"

"Stop playing coy," Nilsa snaps, her anger clear in her expression. "We know what you did."

"You didn't think we were going to let you do it again, did you?"

"Who the hell are you?" Someone demands boldly behind us. We ignore them, all of us putting every ounce of focus into keeping Sibella where we want her and not letting her out of our sight ever again.

"Time to talk." Her skin goes satisfyingly paler. She tries to mist out, but Inna takes her power before she can, leaving Nilsa and Mak to kick the back of her knees, forcing her to the ground. Someone gasps. Tsil wraps her dark tendrils around Sibella's legs and ties them to the ground, Kathika wrapping her light around Sibella's arms and chest.

"You can either talk or..." Tanith kneels down in front of her, slowly raising her hand towards Sibella's head. Nilsa and Mak take their positions at my shoulders, Vanya and Dee standing at each of Sibella's sides in case she decides to try and run. Kathika and Tsil flank her, light and darkness pouring out of their hands like ropes as they hold her down. Serephina is in between them, her eyes focused on concentration as she keeps hold of the new power she's absorbed.

"Oh, for the love of all things living, leave her alone-"

"Touch her, and you'll lose that hand," Mak warns the Queen of Vandaria who stops walking towards Sibella with outstretched hands to gawk at her.

"You will do well to remember that that is my mother you are speaking to, Makatza," Darius warns in turn. Mak bows her head, backing off entirely per our King's request. We never go against our ruler's orders, though we will argue if the decision has yet to be made. I don't even bother to tell either of them that Makatza was warning his mother of what Sibella would do, not what Mak would do.

"Such a good dog," Sibella croons, making Mak and the rest of us bare our teeth. Her actual voice comes out, sounding like harmonious darkness that has every bone in your body begging you to run. The Queen instantly backs off, now staring fearfully at Sibella rather than attempting to come to her rescue.

Darius walks to his mother, holding his sister in one arm and using the other to grab her arm. "Mother, please. Allow them to explain."

She looks to me, then to Sibella, and back to me before nodding. "Questions only," Darius orders. I bow my head in acknowledgment, then turn back to Sibella who's grinning madly and contorting Sibella's face into a whole expression of wrongness.

"I'll never answer you," she snarls.

"Who said I was going to be the one asking?" Her face falls at that.

I step aside, Mak and Nilsa following. The healer who found our sigils stands next to Lance and Kat by the hearth. They both look at him first, waiting until he nods to look at me. I simply wait, the young female assassin pushing through the crowd to join them as they approach Sibella. The healer takes Tanith's spot kneeling in front of her. A brave woman, I conclude, despite Sibella being restrained.

"She has another face, does she not?" The healer asks.

I nod to Tanith, and she steps up behind Sibella who thrashes against her restraints trying to find a way out. Dee and Vanya step forward and hold her head still as Tanith puts her hand over Sibella's face. For a second nothing happens, but then Sibella starts crying out in pain, thrashing harder.

Sibella has conned many people throughout her years of living, including us, but even we haven't seen what she really looks like beneath the mask Xaxias bound to her skin when she was just a child. Of course, no one but Sibella knew about it, but Dawn found out about her sister's true loyalty. That's the real reason why she left, she was afraid of what her sister would do to her child.