Controlled Burn

Chapter 9: Training Begins

The cold was relentless.

Cade sat slumped against the rough concrete wall of his containment cell, the chill sinking into his bones as if the icy chains had never truly left him. His body trembled, but it wasn't just the cold; it was the exhaustion—the deep, bone-weary exhaustion of someone who had been fighting for too long and was finally coming apart at the seams.

The faint flicker of flame at his fingertips was gone, snuffed out by Lucian's freezing power, leaving only an aching emptiness behind. Cade clenched his fists, staring down at his hands as though willing the fire to return, but there was nothing. Only the faint memory of heat and the bitter sting of failure.

His muscles screamed with every twitch, the weight of the day's events pressing down on him like a lead blanket. His wrists still bore the faint, angry red marks where the ice chains had bitten into his skin, the lingering cold a reminder of Lucian's iron control over him. The sensation of those chains—a blend of pain and powerlessness—clung to Cade's mind like a stain he couldn't wash off.

Worse than the physical exhaustion, though, was the emotional devastation. The rejection. Alek's rejection. The cold, cruel look in his mate's eyes when he had said, You're not my mate. I'll never be yours. The words echoed in Cade's head like a death sentence, each repetition cutting deeper. It had broken something inside him, something primal and fragile that had tied him to the world, to his fire.

Without that bond, Cade felt like a shattered reflection of who he once was.

And now... now he was trapped in a freezing cell with an ice demon who had complete control over whether Cade lived or died.

Lucian had left him here alone after their exchange, likely to let him process the magnitude of what had happened. Or maybe it was simply to teach him another lesson: he was at Lucian's mercy.

The silence in the cell was oppressive. Even Cade's breath was a weak, misty exhale in the cold, barely visible in the low light of the room. He could hear the faint hum of the containment system, the mechanical droning a reminder that this place wasn't made for comfort—it was designed to keep demons like him under control.

But Cade knew, deep down, that this was more than just containment. Lucian hadn't brought him here to imprison him. No, Lucian had made it clear—this was about training. Control. Submission. All words that felt like bitter poison on Cade's tongue.

The heavy metallic door to his cell creaked open suddenly, pulling Cade from his spiraling thoughts. His heart lurched in his chest, his body tensing automatically, though he knew he was in no position to fight back. Not after what had just happened. His muscles were stiff, sore, and weak—his fire, non-existent.

Lucian stepped into the room with his usual calm and deliberate movements. His boots echoed against the concrete, and with every step he took, the air seemed to grow colder. It was more than just the physical cold that Lucian brought with him—there was a psychological weight to it, a presence that pressed down on Cade's chest and made him feel as though the walls were closing in around him.

Lucian stopped a few feet away from Cade, his tall frame casting a long shadow across the dim room. His expression was unreadable—icy, composed, and utterly detached. Cade hated that expression, the way Lucian could stand there like he held all the answers, as if nothing ever truly touched him.

"Get up," Lucian ordered, his voice flat, but it carried an authority that made Cade flinch instinctively.

For a moment, Cade hesitated, his mind rebelling against the command. His body was sore, his limbs stiff, but it was more than physical exhaustion holding him down. A part of him wanted to resist, to fight back, to show Lucian that he wasn't some broken thing to be tamed. But that same defiant spark had been smothered—by the ice, by the chains, and most of all, by the rejection that still burned like a fresh wound.

With a grunt of effort, Cade pushed himself to his feet. His legs wobbled beneath him, threatening to give out, but he forced them to hold steady. He wasn't going to let Lucian see any more weakness than he already had.

Lucian's sharp blue eyes flicked over Cade, taking in his sluggish movements, the way he struggled to stand, and Cade saw the faintest flicker of disapproval cross his face. It was gone almost as soon as it appeared, replaced by that cold, calculating mask Lucian always wore.

"We're going to begin your training now," Lucian said, his voice cutting through the silence like the crack of ice. His words were clipped, no-nonsense, with no room for argument.

Cade stiffened, his hands curling into fists at his sides. "What training?" His voice was rough, hoarse from hours of silence. "You expect me to—"

"I expect you to survive," Lucian interrupted, his tone hard. "And the only way you're going to do that is if you learn how to control your fire."

Cade wanted to argue. He wanted to throw Lucian's words back in his face, to tell him that he'd been controlling his fire for years—surviving on the streets, fighting in the underground, keeping his flames in check with nothing but willpower and Accelerant. But even as the words formed in his mind, he knew they weren't true. He hadn't been controlling anything. He had been on the verge of losing control for years. And now, with the rejection tearing at him, his fire had spiraled out of control completely.

Lucian's eyes locked onto his, unyielding and ice-cold. "You're not in control of yourself. Not anymore. You're teetering on the edge of ferality, Cade. One wrong move, one slip, and your fire will consume you—and everything around you."

The truth in Lucian's words stung. Cade's jaw tightened, his chest constricting as the memory of the flames surging out of him on the street flashed in his mind. The uncontrollable rage, the pain of rejection, and the fire that had roared to life, nearly burning everything in its path.

He had been helpless against it.

But that didn't mean he liked hearing it from Lucian.

"So what?" Cade snapped, bitterness creeping into his voice. "You think you're going to fix me? You're DEA. You're not here to help me—you're here to control me."

Lucian's expression didn't waver, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes—something colder, darker. He took a slow step closer to Cade, the air growing even more frigid as he approached. "I don't care what you think of me," Lucian said, his voice low, almost dangerous. "I don't care if you like what's happening. The only thing that matters is that you learn to control your fire before it kills you."

Cade's breath hitched in his throat. There was something in Lucian's tone that made it clear—this wasn't just about some training exercise. This was life or death. Cade wasn't sure if Lucian was threatening him or trying to help him, but either way, it didn't feel like he had a choice.

Lucian continued, his gaze unwavering. "If you don't learn to separate your emotions from your fire, you'll go feral. And when that happens, I'll have no choice but to put you down."

The words hit Cade like a punch to the gut. Put me down. Cade had heard the stories—feral fire demons who lost themselves to the flames, consumed by their own power until there was nothing left but ash. And the DEA? They didn't hesitate to neutralize threats like that. Cade had never imagined he could become one of those demons, but now... now the fear was real.