Controlled Burn

Chapter 6: A Cold Room and a Colder Man

Cade awoke to the sharp bite of ice against his skin.

It wasn't the soothing, numbing cold that came from the icy breeze or the light touch of winter, but something far more severe. This was painful—a deep, penetrating cold that dug into his bones, seeping through his skin and making it impossible to move. His head throbbed, pounding with the aftermath of flames that had raged out of control, and his body ached as if he'd been torn apart from the inside.

His fire had burst free. He remembered that much. The rejection had broken him, shattered something vital within him, and the feral flames he was nicknamed for had claimed the remains.

But now, there was no fire. No heat. Just cold.

Cade groaned, trying to shift, but his muscles wouldn't obey. His wrists were bound—restrained by thick, icy chains that encased him in place. Frost clung to his skin where the cuffs dug into his flesh, and every attempt to move was met with a sharp sting of pain. Panic clawed at his chest as he struggled against the restraints, his heart hammering faster when he realized how tightly he was bound.

His eyes fluttered open, and the world came into focus—a dim, cold room. The walls were made of rough concrete, the floor cracked and uneven. There were no windows, just a single dim light hanging above him, casting shadows that danced across the walls in rhythm with his ragged breathing.

He wasn't in the street anymore. Not under the overpass where he had found Alek. He was somewhere else. Somewhere... cold.

"Easy, fire boy. You're not going anywhere."

The voice came from his left, deep and cool, with an edge of authority that sent a shiver through Cade's already frozen body. He turned his head slowly, his neck stiff from the cold, to see a figure sitting in the shadows of the room. Tall, lean, and undeniably ice demon. The pale blue eyes that pierced through the darkness were unmistakable—sharp, watchful, and deadly calm.

It wasn't Alek.

It was Lucian Frost.

Cade's heart skipped a beat, a surge of panic tightening his chest. Lucian's reputation preceded him—he was a handler for the Demon Enforcement Agency or the DEA, one of the best. Known for tracking down feral fire demons and containing them, Lucian was feared among Cade's kind. If you went feral and Lucian Frost found you, you didn't walk away unscathed. You either submitted, or you burned out.

Lucian shifted, stepping out of the shadows, his presence radiating control. He wasn't like Alek's dominant partner—he didn't posture or raise his voice. He didn't need to. The cold precision with which he moved, the way he observed Cade with those unreadable eyes, was enough to send a chill down Cade's spine. Lucian was the kind of demon who didn't need to flaunt his power; it was simply there, in the air, like a quiet storm.

"You've been out for hours," Lucian continued, his voice as cold as the ice chains that held Cade in place. "I had to bring the temperature down to keep your flames from raging out of control. You nearly torched half the street back there."

Cade's throat was dry, his voice hoarse when he finally managed to speak. "Where... where am I?"

Lucian raised an eyebrow, his lips quirking slightly at the corners as though amused by the question. "You're in one of the DEA's containment cells. Underground, where you can't hurt anyone."

Cade's breath hitched, his pulse quickening as his mind raced. The DEA. They had him. That meant—

Lucian's cold gaze met Cade's, cutting off his thoughts before he could finish them. "Don't get any ideas, Cade. I know exactly who you are, what you are. And more importantly, I know what happened tonight."

Cade flinched at Lucian's tone. His mind immediately flashed back to that moment—the moment the mate bond had shattered, the way Alek had looked at him with disgust, and the fire had exploded from him, uncontrolled. He hadn't just lost control; he had gone feral. The rejection had broken something inside him, and the fire had answered in kind.

He'd nearly burned everything down.

Lucian took a step closer, his boots echoing against the concrete floor, the chains around Cade's wrists clinking softly as the cold intensified with his proximity. "You're dangerous," Lucian said matter-of-factly, as though it wasn't something Cade hadn't heard a thousand times before. "If I hadn't found you, you'd be a smoldering pile of ash by now."

Cade clenched his fists, the icy chains biting into his wrists. "So, what now? You gonna kill me?"

Lucian's expression didn't change, but there was a brief flicker of something in his eyes—something Cade couldn't quite place. "Kill you?" Lucian tilted his head slightly, as if considering the question. "No. Not yet. You're not quite that far gone."

Cade's heart pounded. "Then what? You going to keep me locked up until I burn out?"

Lucian crossed his arms over his chest, studying Cade with a level of detachment that made his skin crawl. "That depends on you," he said calmly. "Right now, you're a ticking time bomb. The  fire inside you is dangerous—if it gets out again, I won't be able to stop it next time. But..." He paused, as if weighing his words carefully. "There's another way."

Cade's mouth was dry. He hated the way Lucian spoke—calm, unflinching, as though Cade's entire existence could be summed up in a cold, calculated sentence. "Another way?"

Lucian took another step closer, his icy presence chilling the air between them. "You're not the first fire demon to go feral after a rejection," he said, his voice low. "It happens. You're bound by instinct, driven by something you can't control. That bond—when it's shattered—it can drive you mad. But it doesn't have to."

Cade's hands tightened into fists, flames flickering weakly at his fingertips despite the cold. "You don't know anything about what happened. About what it felt like."

Lucian's eyes darkened, a flicker of something cold and dangerous passing over his face. "Oh, I know more than you think, Cade. I've seen it before. I've watched it happen." He took another step forward, now standing over Cade, his gaze hard and unwavering. "But here's the thing: I've stopped it before too."

Cade's heart hammered against his ribcage, his body trembling beneath the weight of the chains and the cold. "What are you saying?"

Lucian knelt down so that he was eye-level with Cade, the temperature dropping sharply as he placed a cold, firm hand on Cade's shoulder. Cade flinched, the frost seeping into his skin. "I'm saying," Lucian murmured, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "that I can help you. But you're going to have to submit to me, completely. If you want to keep that fire of yours from burning you alive, you're going to have to give me control."

Cade's stomach twisted. The fire inside him thrashed violently at the idea of submission, of control. His entire life had been one long fight for survival, for freedom, and now this ice demon was telling him that the only way out was to give that up.

"Why should I trust you?" Cade's voice was shaky, but he held Lucian's gaze.

Lucian's grip tightened slightly on his shoulder, just enough to make the cold bite deeper. "Because if you don't, Cade, I'll have no choice but to extinguish your fire for good."

Silence fell between them, heavy and cold.

Cade's breath came in shallow gasps, his fire burning weakly against the frost that surrounded him. Every instinct screamed at him to fight back, to reject the ice, the control, the submission. But the rational part of him—the part that had survived this long, that had fought for every inch of ground—knew that Lucian was right.

He wasn't going to survive this alone. Not anymore.

"Fine," Cade whispered, his voice barely audible.

Lucian's eyes narrowed, his gaze piercing through the cold. "Fine?"

Cade swallowed hard, his throat tight. "I'll... I'll submit."

Lucian's grip loosened just enough for Cade to feel the weight of his words sink in. "Good," Lucian said softly, rising to his feet, his cold gaze still locked on Cade's. "Because this is only the beginning."