Controlled Burn

Chapter 18: Almost There

The air in the containment cell was thick with frost, and the tension was palpable, like the biting cold before a storm. Lucian stood over Cade, his eyes narrowed, his icy presence almost suffocating in its intensity. Cade was a wreck—a trembling, broken mess—but still, he clung to the last flickers of defiance, that fiery pride that had kept him alive for so long. But Lucian could see it, the cracks forming beneath the surface. The fire demon was close to breaking. So close, but not quite there yet.

Lucian's patience was thinning.

Cade lay sprawled on the cold floor, his chest heaving with ragged breaths. His body shook with the remnants of withdrawal, and the weak flicker of flames beneath his skin was dimming, the fire that had once been so fierce now barely holding on. Sweat slicked Cade's skin, his clothes clinging to him as he struggled to push himself up, his muscles twitching with exhaustion. His once fierce gaze had dulled, but the glimmer of resistance was still there, burning faintly in his eyes.

Lucian knelt beside him, his cold eyes glinting with purpose. He reached out, his hand hovering over Cade's shoulder for a moment before he gripped it tightly, his fingers digging into Cade's skin with a brutal, unyielding force. The ice crept from Lucian's fingertips, sinking into Cade's flesh like shards of frozen glass. Cade flinched, a sharp gasp escaping him as the cold took hold, but he didn't pull away. He was too weak to fight it—too worn down by the fire inside him that had been eating him alive for years.

Lucian's voice cut through the silence, low and cold as winter's breath. "Get up, Cade."

Cade's chest heaved as he struggled to breathe, his body trembling from the strain. He blinked up at Lucian, his vision blurred from the exhaustion, the fire inside him flickering weakly in response to Lucian's demand. He tried to move, tried to push himself up off the icy floor, but his arms buckled beneath him, his muscles too weak, too drained to obey. The cold was crushing him. And yet, even now, Lucian could see the fire demon's stubborn pride still burning beneath the surface.

"I can't..." Cade's voice was barely a whisper, hoarse and broken. He slumped back onto the floor, his breath ragged, his body shuddering violently.

Lucian's lips curled into a thin, cruel smile. "Yes, you can." His tone was devoid of pity, cold and harsh. He didn't move to help Cade; he wouldn't. This was Cade's fight, and Lucian knew that only by pushing Cade past his limits—by forcing him to confront his own flames—would Cade ever find control.

But Cade wasn't getting there on his own. He was still holding on, still clinging to his defiance, his pride.

Lucian's icy grip tightened, his fingers pressing into Cade's shoulder with bruising force. The frost spread faster now, wrapping around Cade's upper body, sinking into his bones, making his flames flicker erratically beneath his skin. Lucian wasn't going to let Cade collapse into defeat. He was going to break him.

"I said, get up." Lucian's voice was a growl this time, low and threatening. His cold blue eyes narrowed, hardening with an edge of cruelty that he rarely allowed to surface. He needed to push Cade further, beyond exhaustion, beyond pain. He needed to strip away every last shred of resistance, to drag Cade down until there was nothing left but submission. Only then would Cade be able to rebuild himself.

Cade groaned, his body convulsing under Lucian's icy grip. He tried, weakly, to push back—to resist—but Lucian's strength was overwhelming. He couldn't fight it. He couldn't fight him. Cade's muscles strained, his breath coming in short, shallow gasps as he tried to stand, but his legs gave out beneath him. His flames flared erratically, as if they were fighting for survival, but they couldn't burn brightly enough to match the crushing cold that surrounded him.

Lucian released Cade's shoulder, letting him fall back onto the floor, his body slumping against the ice with a dull thud. Cade's chest heaved, his eyes squeezing shut as he tried to hold onto whatever fragments of control he had left, but Lucian wasn't finished.