Controlled Burn

Chapter 13: Tell Me

Cade sat hunched against the frosted wall of his containment cell, every muscle in his body screaming with the ache of withdrawal. His skin felt too tight, too hot, the flames just beneath his skin threatening to break loose. His hands shook, but he clenched them into fists, his knuckles white from the effort. Not here. Not in front of him.

He could feel Lucian's presence before the door even opened. The ice demon carried with him an aura of cold so sharp that it seemed to freeze the air in the room the moment he stepped inside. Cade heard the soft hiss of the door sliding open and didn't bother looking up. He could already sense the weight of Lucian's gaze-calculating, unrelenting. Cade hated it. Hated the way Lucian could look at him like he was a puzzle to be solved, a broken thing to be pieced together.

The fire demon shifted against the cold wall, pressing his palms into the frosty floor in an attempt to ground himself, though the flames surging inside him made it nearly impossible to feel anything but heat. He needed the Accelerant. His body screamed for it, and the longer he sat here, the more desperate he became.

Lucian stood in front of the him now, his face unreadable, those ice-blue eyes locked onto Cade with an intensity that made his skin crawl. Cade hated the way the ice demon seemed to be able to look straight through him, past the fire and the bravado, right into the parts of him Cade had tried to bury deep down.

"You told me you needed the Accelerant to survive," Lucian said, breaking the heavy silence. His voice was calm, measured, but Cade could hear the edge in it-a demand for truth. Lucian always spoke like he was in control of everything, like nothing could touch him. It grated on Cade's nerves, made him want to push back just for the sake of defiance.

Cade swallowed hard, his mouth dry, but he kept his face blank, eyes half-lidded as he leaned back against the wall, trying to appear casual despite the tightness in his chest. He wasn't going to give Lucian the satisfaction of seeing him break.

"Yeah," Cade muttered, his voice rough. "That's what I said."

Lucian's gaze never wavered. He took a step closer, his arms crossed over his chest, the frost thickening around his boots as he closed the distance between them. "Explain."

There it was-an order, not a question. Cade could feel the pressure of it, the weight of Lucian's presence filling the room. The withdrawal made his head swim, his body shivering uncontrollably despite the heat burning through his veins. He clenched his jaw, trying to hold on to some semblance of control.

But he knew he had to give Lucian something. A lie, something shallow. Keep him on the surface, keep him from digging deeper into the truth. Lucian didn't need to know why Cade was really like this. Why he had fallen so far.

Cade dragged a hand through his sweat-dampened hair, forcing a smirk onto his face. He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees as if he were settling in for a casual chat. "It's like you said. The fire gets out of control sometimes, and the Accelerant helps. It takes the edge off, makes it easier to manage. I got hooked. Same as any other fire demon who fights too hard, burns too hot."

He shrugged, trying to make the admission sound nonchalant, even though his heart raced beneath his ribs. "Started using it when I first hit the underground circuit. You know how it is down there. Every fight's a risk. You either win or you burn out. The Accelerant gave me the edge I needed."

Cade leaned back, letting the cold of the wall press into his spine. He hoped that by playing it cool, Lucian would buy it, would see him as nothing more than a junkie demon who had made the same mistake hundreds of others had made. That he'd believe Cade was just another fire demon who got too deep into the flames and let the drugs pull him out of control.