Book of the Hidden by Annalynne Thorne

irritated. “I told him to. Damn it, Flint, he had to go home.” She stood and began to walk out of the room, but Flint was flying right beside her.
          “You let the one you love go?”
          She stopped in her tracks. “I didn’t love him! He was just a guy that needed help. I helped him, and now he’s gone. That’s it - there’s nothing more to it.” Vivian broke into a run out of the kitchen running to the hallway, but she didn’t make it halfway when she collided with someone throwing her backwards onto the floor. A sudden sharp pain shot up her back, her head feeling like an explosion when it hit the floor with a thud.
          “I am sorry miss.” A tall gangly man with long silver braided hair stood before her holding out his hand.
    “It’s okay, my fault,” she took his hand, getting to her feet.
          He watched as she brushed herself off. “You were going fast there.”
          Vivian looked up, and nodded. “Yeah, guess I was. I’m sorry, just was trying to get away from someone.”
          “Not Seth.”
          The name caused a pain in her heart, but she was intrigued. “How“, then she noticed his ears, they were pointed sharply up. “Oh…”
          The elf gave a kind smile, and walked away.
          “They disturb me.”
    Vivian jumped at the new voice, to realize it was her sister talking over her shoulder. “Yeah, you disturb me too,” she cracked a smile, and continued walking.
    “Why did you do it?”
    Vivian stopped and turned towards her. She was serious. “I can’t be selfish.”
    “He loved you though, Viv.”
    She opened her mouth to protest but Jean held her hand up to silence her. “Really, he loved you, he would have stayed here forever with you. I don’t understand why you would give him up.”
    “It wouldn’t be fair to him,” Vivian sighed, and went to try to leave to her room again when another voice caught her attention.
    “EVERYONE, THE NEWS! COME QUICK!” A deep voice erupted from the circular room.
    Doors swung open, and footsteps echoed off of the walls. Everyone headed to the circular room in a rush where a small television was perched on a rickety stand. All of them gathered around it, the fairies and dwarves up front.
    The newscaster announced- “ A break in occurred at 7 th   street this morning at four A.M. Jake Martin was taken from Mary Anne’s Orphanage. A boy by the name of Seth Martin - brother to Jake Martin - ordered that Jake leave with him. The nuns expressed their disapproval, but Seth was of age, and took his brother with him. Police found mysterious claw marks made by what seemed to be a large dog, on the door to the room where Jake slept. Because Mary Anne’s Orphanage does not allow animals inside their building, it wasn’t apparent of how the marks came to be there.”
    With a soft click, the blond haired lady with a stack of papers disappeared, and the screen went black.
    People turned to look at Vivian, but she didn’t notice. Her head was reeling with what she just heard. Seth and Jake got away, but now Jake knew what Seth was, and he left claw marks. He was risking their secret. Jake was only eight, he couldn’t handle his brother being something other than human. He went through enough.
    “You know what you have to do….” Jean prodded.
    “I know, the safest place for them, is here.”
    “Them?” An old bitter dwarf asked in a gruff, scratchy tone. He rubbed his matted black beard thoughtfully. “Isn’t this Jake boy human?”
    “Yes….” Vivian didn’t know what he was getting at.
    He shook his head, rubbing his wild black beard. “No, no. Can’t be done. He’s human, he doesn’t belong here.”
    “What?” She looked at the others backing away.
    “Only magical beings. No others. That’s how it has always been done, and will always be done.”
    “He’s eight years old! He can’t be on his own, especially now that he knows what his brother is. I’m in