The Silent One: Sinners And Saints (Book 3) *Undergoing Editing*

Hunger

(Alice's POV)

I sat on the couch with my head in my hands. Both my heart and my head were throbbing. Alex was pacing the floor, and Tate was with the kids and Ceciellia. I was flooded with emotions. I didn't know what to think or how to feel. Aiden probably wants nothing to do with me, and now Anna is, well, she's not in her right mind, or the right age.

"Should we go look for her?" Alex asked as he stopped pacing.

"We don't even know where she went. What if her or Ali come back?" I asked.

"Tate or Ceciellia will be here with the kids. I just can't stand here while my wife and daughter are out there missing. From what I could tell, Anna doesn't even know who she is. What if she runs into another creature? She wont know how to protect herself. If anything happens to her or Ali..." Alex said but stopped to hold back his tears.

I stood up and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around me, and a hot tear hit my shoulder.

"They will be okay. I promise," I said hopefully.

Just then Tate walked into the room, but stopped when he seen Alex and I. He gave me a confused look. A hint of jealousy gleaming in his eyes. I let go of Alex, and patted him on his back.

"So, what do we do now?" Tate asked as he wrapped an arm around me.

"Well, first things first, we need to find out what happened to Anna. What made her change into her teenage self?" I asked.

Out from the kitchen stepped Ceciellia, who was holding the same bottle of wine that Anna was drinking.

"Where did you get this wine?" She asked as she waved the bottle side to side.

"I think Anna said it was sent here in a gift basket. You think someone tampered with the wine?" Alex asked.

Ceciellia chuckled to herself, as she poured the wine into the pot of a plant.

"No, I don't think someone tampered with it. I know so. I could smell the mandrake," She said.

I looked at Tate who looked just as confused as I was. Ceciellia rolled her eyes, before throwing the bottle away.

"Wait what is it?" I asked.

"A mandrake root can be used as a poppet for sympathetic magic. It can also be carved into various shapes for magical use. The berries as well as the root are used in charms to increase fertility and youth. Carried, it is said to attract love. It is also used in aphrodisiac spells. Mandrake intensifies magic in any situation. Ingestion of a small amount is said to increase psychic abilities and creativity, but it is also poisonous," A voice said from behind me.

I quickly turned around to see that it was my parents. They were smiling at me, but it wasn't a happy smile. I rushed to them, and they enveloped me into a long hug.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in Aurelius?" I asked.

"Raven and Baldassare stayed behind in the other realm to keep things in order. It is almost complete. When it is a fully functional realm and the portal is accessible for all beings to pass through safely, we plan to move the kingdoms out of the humans realm. It is not safe here for us. Sooner or later one of our kind is going to slip up and get caught. Then a real war will begin, again," My father said before looking away.

I could tell he was fighting with his emotions. He wanted to cry, but maintained his composure. My mother placed a hand on his back, as she gave me a sad smile.

"When the war between the humans and the Immortals started over two centuries ago, the first of the Immortals were just born. As they grew, the humans started to notice there unique abilities. They came for them, and they never stopped. They hired bounty hunters who hunted us down. The four of us were the last to be born of our kind, and the only ones who survived," My mother said as she rubbed her fingers against the back of my fathers hand, "Your father... He had to watch his family die. If it hadn't been for the Prophet who had saved us, we wouldn't be here, and all the supernatural beings would never exist."