Heir of Fury

Chapter 5

The woods around us are a blur of shadows and moonlight, but all I can feel is the crushing weight of my grief, the trembling of my body, and the cold, hard truth that I can't take any of this back. I've lost too much. I've broken too many promises.

And for the first time, I'm not sure I have the strength to fight my way through it.

And just like that, the anger's back, ripping through me like fire. I straighten, every muscle tensing as the rage flares. But this time, it's not aimed at them, not at my brother or my parents. No—this time, it's all on me. I'm furious with myself for being so fucking weak. This isn't me. I hate this. I hate this.

I'm Serena fucking Griffin. I fight. I push. I laugh in the face of my own misery, I deal with it—maybe not in the healthiest way, but I do. This... this breakdown? It's not who I am.

"Fuck!" I scream, the sound tearing from my throat, echoing through the forest. "Fuck! I can't stop feeling! Why the fuck can't I stop feeling?" My voice cracks, ragged from the crying, the shouting, the pain. The fucking pain that won't let up.

"Caleb," I hear Ezra say, his voice taut as I gasp for air, my breathing a jagged mess. "How long ago did we cross the border?"

Like that even matters.

Caleb's silent for a second before answering quietly, "About six hours ago."

"We should camp," Ezra says, pulling the horse to a halt. "It's too dark to keep going."

The words barely register as I feel the heat crawling up my body, my skin burning like I'm on fire from the inside. Is this what a panic attack feels like? My breath comes fast, shallow. I can't catch it.

I slide off the horse and collapse against the nearest tree, its rough bark biting into my back as I slide down to the ground. My body's trembling, still burning with all the emotions I can't get a grip on. I can hear them whispering, see their glances flick toward me—worried, cautious. I'm coming apart at the seams, and they don't know what to do with me.

"Wanna fucking tell me what the hell you're talking about?" I snap, glaring at them through the fog of rage. The fire inside me roars, and all I want to do is lash out. Break something. Scream. Anything to make this stop.

Caleb steps closer, but he moves like he's walking on glass, like any wrong word will shatter me. "We, uh... we were just saying that... we passed the border. A while ago."

"So?" My voice is a whip, daring him to give me something solid.

"Well... you are... I mean, your parents are..." He runs a hand nervously through his silver hair, his face pale in the moonlight. "You're Fae, Serena."

I open my mouth to rip him apart, but he raises his hands, backing off. "I'm not saying you feel like one," he adds quickly, "but that's what you are."

I clamp my mouth shut, my eyes narrowing as I let him continue, barely hanging on to my fraying temper.

"And as you know, the border is an invisible barrier around The Scorns, isolating it from magic."

"Yeah, I know," I snap. "It's the empire's way of keeping us in line. The cowards used a fucking mountain of power to cut us off from—"

"Serena!" Caleb snaps, his voice sharp enough to shut me up. "Listen. You're a Fae who's never manifested magic. The moment we crossed that border, your body went into overdrive."

Overdrive?

Panic floods through me, crashing into the anger, making my breath quicken even more. I see it now—Caleb's eyes wide with something I hadn't seen in him before. Fear.