Controlled Burn

Chapter 3: A Cold Call

Lucian Frost was standing in the quiet of his office, the chill of the room reflecting the icy control he maintained over every facet of his life. The city sprawled beneath him, visible through the large glass windows, its lights flickering like stars trapped in the smog of Novum City's tangled streets. He didn't have to feel the cold radiating off the glass to know it was there; the frost curling at the edges of the windowpane was enough of a reminder.

Everything was in its place—everything, except the nagging tension that coiled in Lucian's chest. He had been going through reports from the Demon Enforcement Agency or the DEA as those too lazy to pronounce the name insisted, his eyes skimming over the growing list of fire demon incidents. Their numbers were rising, the underground circuits becoming more volatile with each passing month. And he knew why. The fragility of their world—fire and ice—was always on the verge of collapse. Control was everything, and most of the time, fire demons had none.

Lucian's icy blue eyes narrowed as he sifted through the data. Another feral fire demon had gone rogue two days ago, and the clean-up crews had barely managed to contain the damage before the entire block burned to the ground. This was becoming a pattern, and the DEA was struggling to keep it under wraps. With each new incident, more demons were pushed to the edge, especially those who had been rejected by their mates.

His thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ring of his communicator. Lucian didn't flinch, though the sudden noise grated against the stillness of the room. He reached for the device, sliding it open with a smooth motion.

"Frost," he said, his voice calm, controlled, the same way it always was when the DEA called him.

"Lucian, we've got a situation." The voice on the other end belonged to Marshal Delaney, one of the higher-ups in the agency. He sounded tense, which wasn't unusual when dealing with fire demons. "We've just received a report—a fire demon's been spotted near the south side. Witnesses say he's on the edge of combustion."

Lucian's eyes narrowed, his grip tightening slightly on the communicator. On the edge of combustion. That phrase was always a red flag, a clear indication that the demon in question was losing control fast. The flames would spiral out of control, and once they tipped into ferality, there would be no pulling them back. That kind of power would be impossible to stop without severe casualties.

"Details," Lucian said, his voice cool and commanding, as he moved across the room to grab his coat. The temperature dropped a few degrees in the room as he prepared to leave, the frost creeping up the edges of the windows as if responding to his urgency.

Delaney's voice came through, strained but professional. "It's a rogue fire demon. Young. Witnesses say he's been frequenting the underground fight circuits. Name's Cade. We think he's..." There was a pause, and Lucian could almost hear Delaney swallow on the other end. "We think he's about to go feral. We've picked up reports of him in the past, but tonight—tonight it's different. It's bad, Lucian. Really bad. He's been spotted on the eastern side of the city, near the underpass. If he combusts there, it'll be a bloodbath."

Lucian's jaw tightened at the mention of Cade. He'd seen the name before, buried in the files of fire demons skating the edge. Cade had been a frequent contender in the underground fighting circuits, a dangerous place for fire demons who thrived on the heat of battle and the rush of adrenaline. Those places fed their flames, amplified their instability, and the DEA had been tracking Cade for a while, waiting for him to crack.

And now, it seemed, he had.

Lucian grabbed his coat from the back of his chair, sliding it on with a practiced ease. The chill of the fabric, woven with cooling fibers, clung to him like armor, but he barely felt it. His mind was already racing through the next steps. Combustion. That meant Cade was at the final stage before his fire became uncontrollable. It was the tipping point—the moment when emotions, instability, and rejection collided, turning a fire demon's flames from volatile to feral.

"I'll handle it," Lucian said, his voice smooth and cold, though there was a weight beneath the words. He didn't wait for Delaney to respond before snapping the communicator shut.

He had handled situations like this before. It was part of his job—a duty that carried a certain gravity. Fire demons were dangerous, unpredictable, and when they went feral, they became a threat to everything around them. Lucian's role was to neutralize those threats before they caused irreversible damage. Sometimes that meant containment. Sometimes... it meant elimination.

He exited his office with long, determined strides, his boots clicking against the polished floors of the DEA headquarters. As he passed through the sterile, steel-lined hallways, agents moved aside for him, their eyes following him with a mix of respect and fear. Lucian had earned his reputation as one of the most effective handlers in the agency, but it was a reputation built on ice and ruthless precision.

As he made his way to the vehicle bay, his thoughts turned to Cade. If the reports were accurate, the fire demon was close—too close—to the point of no return. Lucian had to act fast, but he knew there was more at play here than just another feral fire demon. There always was. The underground circuits, the rejection, the isolation—all of it worked together to tear fire demons apart from the inside. If Cade had reached this point, something must have triggered it. And Lucian had a sinking feeling that it wasn't just the fights that had pushed Cade over the edge.

Lucian's fingers flexed as the temperature around him dropped even lower, a subconscious reaction to the growing tension. He'd handled feral demons before, but Cade... this was going to be different. He had seen enough in the reports to know that this fire demon wasn't just another rogue. There was something darker driving him, something far more dangerous than flames.

Lucian reached the vehicle bay and stepped into one of the agency's black transport cars. The driver glanced at him, a nervous flicker in his eyes, but Lucian didn't acknowledge it. He simply nodded toward the door.

"East side. Now."

The car sped out of the bay, the city's lights flashing by in a blur as they headed toward the underpass where Cade had been spotted. Lucian's mind raced, piecing together the information he'd gathered over the past few months. The underground circuits were brutal places, where demons were pushed to their limits, but it was more than that. 

Cade had to have been rejected. That was the key. 

The reports had mentioned signs of emotional instability but nothing of random raw danger. This was a spike in behavior, and Lucian knew all too well what that meant.

When a fire demon's bond was shattered, it could push them to the brink. If he was right, and he knew he was, he could feel it, Cade wasn't just fighting to survive—he was fighting a losing battle with his own emotions. His mate's rejection. Lucian had seen it in others before, demons who had been cast aside by their mates, their flames left to spiral out of control.

This was Cade's breaking point.

As the car approached the underpass, Lucian's cold eyes scanned the surroundings. The reports were accurate—he could feel it in the air, the heat that radiated from the area. It was faint, but growing, like the first sign of a wildfire about to ignite.

Lucian stepped out of the car, his boots crunching against the gravel as he moved toward the flickering light just beyond the edge of the underpass. There, amid the shadows, was Cade.

Lucian's gaze sharpened. Cade was hunched over, his body trembling, flames licking at his skin, uncontrolled and wild. His breath came in ragged gasps, his entire form radiating heat. But it wasn't just fire that was tearing Cade apart—it was the emotional devastation, the rejection, the pain.

Lucian's grip tightened around the small device in his hand—the one that could extinguish Cade's flames in an instant, if it came to that. But for now, he would do what he always did. He would contain.

Stepping into the light, Lucian's voice was cold and steady as it cut through the heat. "Cade."

The fire demon froze, his head snapping up, wild eyes locking onto Lucian. His flames flared, hot and angry, but Lucian stood his ground, unfazed by the heat that rippled through the air.

Lucian knew this was the moment. The moment where he would either pull Cade back from the edge—or watch him burn.