I left Lucien's house and jogged across the street. My day of denial had been refreshing, but it was time to return to my harsh new reality. I still hadn't returned to school, but I was communicating with my friends again. We were supposed to get together for a bonfire in a few days, and I was looking forward to the distraction it could provide.

Besides my refusal to take over the coven and turning my back on my family's legacy of murder, I had also made another decision. I wished I could make my stay at Lucien's permanent, but after finding out what happened to my parents and that my family was being hunted, I decided that I needed to stick close to my siblings. I couldn't bring myself to just leave them no matter how much more peaceful my life would be at Lucien's. Even though I never got along with River, she was still my sister, and I had to watch her back. Uncle Ben was just human, and he would be defenseless if the Lockton family came looking for us. I couldn't just leave them since this was all because of me. I couldn't carry any more guilt than I already had.

They didn't even know they were in danger. I contemplated the idea of telling my siblings everything, but I hadn't decided yet. It was a lot to handle, and unlike me, they lived relatively normal teenage lives. I wasn't sure if I wanted to take that away from them. I was also terrified of seeing the accusations in their eyes when they found out our parents were killed because of a prophecy about me.

With a sigh, I entered the home with my duffel bag slung over my shoulder and couldn't help the groan that escaped me when I immediately saw Sara exiting the living room.

"So, you finally decided to return to your family?" She asked in a snide tone.

Not even looking at her, I headed to the stairs in an attempt to escape to my floor. Who would have thought months ago that after years of trying to escape the third floor, it would become my refuge?

"I'm here to make sure my siblings and uncle are safe. Nothing else has changed, and it's not going to."

"You aren't going to choose those monsters over your family, Ariella. I won't let you. This family needs you." The threatening edge to her voice stopped me in my tracks, and I finally turned to face her from my place halfway up the stairs.

"And how exactly do you plan to stop me?" I asked with a smirk.

She didn't respond, and I chuckled in amusement. We both knew there was nothing Sara could do to force me to do as she wished. My siblings might need me, and I planned to stand by them, but I didn't give a shit about that coven. I had never even met them, and there was no way I'd choose them over Lucien, the Haltermans, and my friends.

"Hey, Ari. You back?" I heard my uncle's voice a split second before I saw him round the corner from the kitchen.

I nodded to him and noticed worry flash across his features as he glanced between Sara and me. I was about to continue my trek up the stairs when River walked out of the kitchen behind him.

"I'm thinking about going back to the coven with Gran," she said enthusiastically, and Uncle Ben shot me a pleading look.

River actually looked less hostile than usual, with excitement shining in her face, and I hated to ruin that, but I had to.

"Did you happen to mention how dangerous that is to her?" I asked Sara with a glare.

When River's excitement turned to confusion, I knew that she hadn't told her a thing.

"What do you mean?" Sara asked in an attempt to act clueless.

I dropped my bag on the stairs and turned to glare at the woman. "I mean that most of the Gorman covens have been killed and that yours is in hiding. If they find you, they will kill everyone there. Did you bother to tell her any of that?"

River sucked in a breath, and anger filled Sara's face. Before she could respond, I continued. "When I told you to give her the coven, I meant when she's of age."

"Wait, you told her to give me the coven?" River asked in disbelief.

Sara and I ignored her, continuing to glare at each other, seeing which would blink first. It was Sara. "I'm not giving her the coven unless something drastic changes when she ascends. Her only power is telekinesis. She can't possibly lead the coven. I don't know what I'm supposed to do since you're just as uncaring as your mother was. I won't be leaving her here under your influence, though."

"You don't have a choice," I said dangerously, taking a step towards her.

"Actually, I do. You don't get guardianship until you turn eighteen. Until then, you can't stop me," she said in a condescending tone, unknowingly dropping a bomb on River.

"Wait! She's going to be our guardian?" She yelled.

Again, we both ignored her. When my phone chimed, I glanced at the screen to see a text from Lawrence, "Where are you? Need to talk to you about something."

I ignored the text, shoving my phone back into my pocket, planning to deal with it when I finished my conversation. I couldn't believe what Sara had just revealed to Sara. Lucien, Uncle Ben, and I had all kept it quiet on purpose, knowing that River's reaction wouldn't be good. I'd never actually planned to tell them. The plan was to continue living with our uncle like nothing changed when I turned eighteen and never mention it unless I had to.

I had wondered at the time what our parents had been thinking to name me as their guardian once I turned eighteen, but I got it now. Now that I knew the danger we were all in, I realized they were trying to ensure that we stuck together until we were all eighteen. Once I ascended and reached my full power, I could protect us all as long as we stayed together. Hell, I could probably protect them now if someone came, but I hoped I ascended before it happened, just to be sure. I knew that even if River got on my last nerve most days, I couldn't let her leave with Sara.

"Until I turn eighteen, Uncle Ben is their guardian. Mom didn't want any of us with you. She made that clear," I sneered.

"You're a bad influence. Just look at the company you keep. I don't want either of them here with you," she barked.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that it's not up to you," I replied with a smirk.

A knock on the door interrupted us, and we all paused. River stormed over to answer it while Sara and I continued to glare silently. When she came back, she glanced my way and waved a hand over her shoulder.

"Your boy toy is here," she mumbled childishly.

From the look on her face, it was clear that the conversation about her guardianship was nowhere near over. River would have plenty to say on the topic. However, I was distracted from her when I saw the angry look on Sara's face fade into an evil smirk. Before I could stop her, she turned towards the foyer.

 She had a head start since I was still halfway up the stairs, and I couldn't risk Lawrence catching sight of me moving too fast for a human. I raced down the stairs at a 'normal' pace, not knowing what to expect, but I was too late to prevent what was unfolding in front of me.

"Hello, you must be Ariella's boyfriend," I heard Sara say kindly.

"I am," Lawrence replied.

I reached the foyer just in time to see my world come crashing down around me.

"I'm Ariella's grandmother, Sara Gorman," she said with a devilish glint in her eyes as she watched the impact of her words unfold.

Lawrence took a stumbling step backward as his eyes widened in shock. He looked at me over Sara's shoulder, and I watched helplessly as the shock gave way to hurt and betrayal before his face went completely blank.

"No, wait," I said desperately, but it was too late. The damage had already been done. He turned and walked away quickly before I could even find the words to explain. His form blurred slightly in his haste to escape.

Sara slammed the door shut, cutting me off in my attempt to follow him. Leaning against the door, she watched me with a satisfied grin.

"Why did you do that?" I screamed.

"I can't very well just allow you to continue to surround yourself with vampires. If you refuse to walk away from them, I'll make sure they walk away from you instead," she said with a smile before walking away.

The lights began to flicker, clueing everyone into me losing control of my emotions, but it was worse than usual this time. Everything hanging on the walls started to shake violently. I watched as a crack began to form in the wall beside me. I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to gain control, but it didn't work. Turning, I sprinted out the front door, away from my family. While I wouldn't mind hurting my grandmother at that moment, I didn't want to risk hurting anyone else.

I sprinted to the clearing where Lucien and I usually trained. The place was quickly becoming another refuge of mine. My breaths came in fast, short gasps and the tingling sensation under my skin had turned almost painful it was so strong. I dropped to my knees in the middle of the clearing and focused on taking slow deep breaths.

Thoughts raced through my mind, one after another, of everything. Every time I'd screamed at my parents, not realizing they were just doing their best to protect me. I could now see why they made the choices that they made, but it had all just seemed unfair at the time. I saw their bodies the night they were murdered and heard all of River's hateful comments. I saw flashes of my time with both Lawrence and Everett, learning about vampires and werewolves, learning about the prophecy. The kind of expectations that rested on my shoulders seemed to become even heavier when I thought about the Lockton's killing my parents because of me, and finally, the betrayal on Lawrence's face flashed through my mind.

All of the hurt, anger, and frustration that had been building within me for so long wouldn't be pushed down or contained any longer. The wind around me picked up to a violent level. I gripped my hair in my tightly fisted hands and screamed out my frustration. I was barely aware of the leaves, limbs, and boulders flying away from me when an intense burst of energy left my body along with the scream. The trees around me bowed with the force of the next blast. With one last burst exploding from within me, multiple trees hit the ground with a thundering sound, torn from the ground by the roots. The ground shook with the impact.

Falling back in exhaustion, I laid on the forest floor, staring up at pieces of the cloudy sky barely visible through the canopy of trees that were still standing. I noticed minor cuts on my arms from the small limbs that had thrashed around in the violent wind, but I didn't care. They stung slightly, but I knew they'd heal soon. I breathed slowly through my nose, taking in the scent of nature as I finally regained some semblance of control.

My biggest worry was how I'd lost control so completely. I was just glad I'd managed to get out of the house and away from people before it happened. Surveying the destruction around me, I sighed and imagined what could have happened to the house.

Once I was satisfied that the risk of danger had passed, I pushed myself from the ground with a groan and ran back towards home. The only thought on my mind was fixing what my grandmother had done as I bypassed my house and ran right up to the front door of the Haltermans'.

Knocking, I bent down with my hands on my knees, barely out of breath from the run but exhausted from the strength of my little breakdown. When the door swung open, I came face to face with the entire Halterman family except for Everett. I could only assume that he wasn't home since there was no way he'd allow his younger siblings to face off with a Gorman witch while he stayed behind.

"I can-..." I began, about to say I could explain, but Cal cut me off.

"You need to go home, Ariella," he said, no longer using the friendly tone I had always known him to use.

Much like Lawrence had done at my door, I took a stumbling step back. I scanned their faces and couldn't miss the hate and hostility on every single one of them. Even little Annie was looking at me as if I was the monster. I rubbed at my chest, trying to ease the pain radiating there.

"Don't come back," Cal said menacingly as he closed the heavy wooden door in my face with a slam.

The first tear fell from my eye before the door was even closed. Taking a shuddering breath, I turned and headed back home, defeated. My mind spun with the possibility of my friends having the same reaction when they found out. All these people that mattered to me were the defining reason I'd turned away from my coven, my family. If it wasn't for knowing them, I don't know what my decision might have been, but I probably would have just believed the crap that Sara was shoveling. I'd given up my birthright to stand with them, and they'd turned their backs on me like I was nothing.