Controlled Burn

Chapter 17: I Won't Let You Break

Lucian stood tall, watching Cade struggle on the edge of collapse. His blue eyes were sharp and unyielding, as if carved from ice, and his face remained an impassive mask. But beneath that icy facade, Lucian felt the weight of his own resolve hardening. Cade needed this. Cade needed to be pushed past his limits, to be forced into control, whether he liked it or not. He couldn't afford to coddle the fire demon any longer. The flames were too wild, and Cade was too close to losing himself.

The fire demon's chest heaved as he tried to stand, his muscles trembling with effort, his body broken from exhaustion and the cruel pull of Accelerant withdrawal. Cade's flames flickered dangerously under his skin, untamed, erratic. They danced at the edge of chaos, like a storm ready to consume everything in its path.

Lucian stepped closer, his cold presence pressing down on Cade like the weight of an iceberg. "Get up," he ordered, his voice sharp, commanding. "I don't care how tired you are. You're not done. Get. Up."

Cade gasped, his hands shaking as he tried to push himself off the frost-rimmed floor. His legs buckled beneath him, but he gritted his teeth and fought against his body's overwhelming fatigue. Lucian didn't move to help him—he didn't offer a hand. This was Cade's struggle, and if he was going to survive, he had to find the strength within himself.

"I can't," Cade whispered, his voice hoarse, strained from the weight of everything that had been ripped out of him during their last conversation.

Lucian's expression hardened, his eyes narrowing. "Yes, you can," he growled, taking another step forward, his cold aura intensifying. Frost began to creep up Cade's boots, biting into his skin as if to remind him of the freezing grip Lucian held over him.

Cade let out a shuddering breath, his eyes bloodshot and glazed from the overwhelming strain. He was still raw—emotionally flayed open by the confessions he had made, by the trauma he had relived. His entire body trembled, not just from the cold, but from the weight of the memories, the pain of the past. His flames flared beneath his skin, erratic and out of control, desperate to be unleashed, desperate for release.

Lucian crouched in front of him, his hand reaching out to grip Cade's chin, forcing the fire demon to meet his gaze. The cold from Lucian's touch spread instantly, seeping into Cade's flesh, and Cade jerked under the pressure. "Listen to me," Lucian said, his voice dangerously low. "I don't care how much you're hurting. I don't care how much you've been through. This is about your survival. Do you understand?"

Cade's breath hitched as he stared up at Lucian, his vision swimming from the pain and the overwhelming heat trapped inside him. He tried to pull away, but Lucian's grip tightened, the cold intensifying.

"You've spent your whole life running from this fire," Lucian continued, his voice relentless, like a blade of ice cutting through Cade's resistance. "But it's not going to stop chasing you. You're either going to control it, or it's going to destroy you. And I won't let that happen. Not after everything you've survived."

Cade's jaw clenched, his muscles straining as the fire inside him thrashed like a caged beast. The heat was unbearable. He could feel it bubbling up, threatening to explode. His skin was too tight, too hot, and the flames were clawing at him, begging to be released.

"I don't—know how," Cade choked out, his voice cracking under the strain.

Lucian's eyes bore into his, the intensity of his gaze cutting through the haze of Cade's pain. "You're going to submit to it, Cade. That's how. You're going to stop fighting the fire. You're going to stop letting it rule you through fear and anger."

Cade's breath came in rapid, shallow bursts, his mind racing, his body teetering on the edge of collapse. Submit? To the fire? How could he possibly submit to something that had been tearing him apart for years? His flames were wild, unpredictable. They weren't something he could bend to his will—they were something he had fought every day just to survive.

"I can't," Cade whispered again, his voice shaking as the fire inside him raged hotter, pushing against Lucian's cold grip.

"You will," Lucian said coldly, his fingers tightening on Cade's chin, forcing him to focus, to listen. "Or I'll make sure you understand what happens if you don't."

Without warning, Lucian's free hand shot out, pressing firmly against Cade's chest. The cold surged from Lucian's touch, sinking deep into Cade's core. Cade gasped, his entire body jolting as the ice spread over his chest, freezing the air in his lungs, crushing the flames that were threatening to erupt.

"Do you feel that?" Lucian growled, his voice hard, unforgiving. "That's what happens when you lose control. You freeze. You break. And I will not let you break, Cade."

Cade's body convulsed under the pressure, his muscles locking up as the cold crushed him, suffocating his fire. His vision blurred, his breath shallow and labored as he fought against the ice, against the overwhelming force that was pinning him down.

But something inside Cade shifted. Somewhere in the midst of the ice and the heat, the pain and the panic, a small part of him began to let go. To submit. Not to Lucian, but to the fire. For just a moment, Cade stopped fighting. He stopped trying to hold back the flames, stopped struggling against the inferno inside him.

For just a heartbeat, he dipped into the fire's rhythm, feeling it pulse through him, not as an enemy, but as something that was a part of him. Something deeper. The fire roared, but it wasn't wild. It was powerful, controlled—for a fleeting second, Cade felt that control, felt the flames bend beneath his will.

But then, just as quickly as the moment had come, it slipped away.

The fire surged back with a vengeance, too strong, too overwhelming. Cade's body jerked violently as the flames erupted inside him, pushing against the ice, desperate to break free. He could feel his control slipping, feel the fire tearing at the edges of his consciousness, and he knew he was about to lose it.

"No," Cade gasped, his voice trembling as the flames rose higher, hotter, out of control. "No—"

Lucian's eyes narrowed, his grip unrelenting as he forced the ice deeper, harder. "Submit, Cade."

But Cade couldn't. The fire was too strong. His body was shaking, his breath coming in ragged gasps as the flames overwhelmed him. He could feel himself losing the battle, slipping further into the heat, the fire burning brighter, hotter.

And then, just as the flames reached their peak, Cade's body gave out.

His vision went black, his legs buckling beneath him as the last remnants of control slipped away. Lucian's hand shot out, catching Cade before he hit the ground, but the fire demon was already unconscious, his body limp in Lucian's arms.

The room was silent, save for Cade's labored breathing, his flames dimming as his body finally succumbed to the exhaustion.

Lucian exhaled slowly, his gaze hard as he looked down at Cade's unconscious form. He had pushed Cade too far—but it was necessary. Cade had to learn control. He had to understand that submission was the only way he would survive this.

But for now, Cade had passed out before he could take that final step.

Lucian stood there for a moment longer, his hand still resting on Cade's chest, the ice slowly retreating as he released his grip. Cade's flames flickered weakly beneath his skin, no longer raging, but still there. Always there.

Lucian let out a quiet sigh, his expression unreadable as he lowered Cade gently to the floor, his mind already turning over what needed to be done next. This wasn't over. Cade wasn't broken yet—but he would be. Lucian would make sure of that.

For Cade's sake.