54 pages • 1-hour read
Her Soul for Revenge
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Chapters 33-42Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, death, substance use, and sexual content.
Chapter 33 Summary: “Juniper”
On Halloween, Juniper frets about her plan to kill Kent until Zane’s excitement overwhelms her. They tease one another about wearing revealing costumes.
In a nightmare sequence (that she doesn’t initially realize is a dream), Juniper exercises to work through her nerves until she hears Zane’s voice. She follows it to the nearby lake, where she sees a bloody face emerging from the water. She flees the lake, only to find the bloody creature on the shore. It reaches for her as she “wakes,” finding herself in the mine. She hears the Deep One’s voice calling as tentacles slither toward her. She urges herself to wake up for real; the Deep One asserts that she isn’t dreaming. The tentacles begin to suffocate her.
Zane shakes Juniper awake on the shore of the lake. When she explains what she saw, Zane calls the red creature a Watcher, which feeds on the fear of others. He urges her not to let it overwhelm her if she sees it again, as this will make her vulnerable. He explains that the Deep One can create powerful illusions but can’t touch her while it’s trapped, no matter how real it feels.
Chapter 34 Summary: “Zane”
Zane contrasts timid human parties with the long bacchanals of Hell. Even so, he eagerly anticipates the Hadleigh party. Juniper’s nerves are heightened after the incident with the Watcher. Zane is pleased with himself for helping to calm her, which he finds immensely satisfying. He wants to know all sides of Juniper and give her a place to feel safe, “to be as messy as she please[s]” (299).
They get ready for the party, donning their skeleton costumes and flirting. When Juniper frets that the idea of being pierced is arousing to her, Zane explains that demons “use piercings as marks of loyalty and devotion” (301). Juniper is increasingly interested in Hell. Zane finds the idea of giving Juniper a piercing that shows their abiding devotion highly appealing.
They go to the party, where Juniper is alarmed to see Rae. Zane isn’t certain if Leon will protect her, so they plan to kill Kent before he can attack Rae.
Chapter 35 Summary: “Zane”
The party is noisy and crowded. Zane gets attention, pleasing Juniper, and they banter about their desirability to others. When Zane goes to make a drink to blend into the party while they look for Kent, Jeremiah approaches him, bragging about his plan to slip drugs into a drink for Rae. Juniper flirts with Rae to get her unobtrusively away from the crowd, and then she and Zane pull Rae into a bathroom and force her to vomit up the drugs. Rae, shocked, recognizes Zane, who is exasperated that Leon left Rae unprotected. Leon appears outside the bathroom, bringing him face-to-face with Juniper for the first time since Kent forced Leon to attack her.
Chapter 36 Summary: “Juniper”
Juniper is furious to see Leon before she reminds herself that he was an unwilling participant in Kent’s schemes. Seeing the fond way that Leon clutches Rae humanizes him to Juniper. She brandishes her knife at him to show that she’s unafraid, which Leon finds entertaining. Zane leads Juniper away, and she confesses her dislike of “feeling out of control” (316).
Juniper suddenly senses the Watcher. Zane warns her not to give it any attention, as this is what it desires, but Juniper frets that she’s “getting worse,” as her nightmares haven’t lessened over the years. Zane professes his admiration for her “broken pieces,” which he witnessed during the years he followed her. They wait until after midnight but don’t see Kent.
Eventually, they see Leon and Rae fleeing the house. Shortly after, Kent appears on an upper balcony. Zane distracts Kent while Juniper sneaks up behind him. She hits him over the head and steals the amulet that protects him from demons. They drag Kent to a garden shed.
Chapter 37 Summary: “Juniper”
Kent regains consciousness to find himself bound. He doesn’t recognize Juniper in her skull makeup until she echoes her pleading from the attempted sacrifice. She feels euphoric to see her enemy weak, aging, and bound. She cuts him, and when he pleads for a “merciful God,” she counters that the Deep One enjoys violence and suffering, not mercy. Kent defends his actions, claiming that he was acting on the Deep One’s orders. Zane brutally breaks several of Kent’s bones, though he stops when Juniper tells him to. Juniper is gleefully vicious as she strikes at Kent’s wounds, which Zane finds arousing. Juniper slits Kent’s throat, killing him, and she and Zane have sex, reveling in vanquishing their enemy.
Chapter 38 Summary: “Zane”
Zane enjoys seeing Juniper’s satisfaction over killing Kent. He’s pleased to note that she’ll be well suited for Hell, which humans often find disquieting. He asks for her trust, feeling sentimental when she grants it. He offers to take her to a demon gathering place, where she’ll be “surrounded by beings that understand the strange side of life” (336), which he thinks she’ll find freeing. Juniper, though nervous, agrees. They drive to a remote location. Zane is excited to show Juniper a version of the true Hell, not the version that humans have imagined.
Chapter 39 Summary: “Juniper”
Though Juniper is nervous to be in the presence of so many demons, she trusts Zane to protect her from any aggressors. They enter an abandoned power plant, where demons dance and have sex in large groups. Other demons give Zane space but reach out magically to Juniper in curiosity. When she snarls at them to stop, the demons laugh, praising Zane for finding “a vicious one” (340). Juniper meets a demon named Hana and her bound human, Sadie. Zane points to one of his piercings, which is from Hana, indicating their longstanding bond.
Zane and Juniper approach Azriel, their host. He welcomes them and, recognizing Juniper’s nerves, reassures her that none of the demons will bother her, as she’s bound to Zane. He promises that if anyone troubles her, he’ll “take care of it” (344).
Chapter 40 Summary: “Zane”
Zane and Juniper move through the party, and the chaos fascinates Juniper. They drink extremely strong “Hell’s liquor,” which Juniper enjoys. The alcohol makes her giggly, which charms Zane. They dance suggestively and then have manual sex, thrilled by the knowledge that they’re being watched.
Chapter 41 Summary: “Juniper”
Juniper feels light and triumphant, as though being brave enough to be vulnerable and have sex in public (something she long fantasized about) has let her “overcome a fear without even realizing it” (351). She and Zane rejoin Hana and Sadie, who praise their performance. Sadie confides that she bound herself to Hana when she killed Sadie’s abusive husband. Hana recognizes Juniper’s story, exclaiming that Zane forbade any other soul hunters from pursuing her. Hana teases that Juniper is Zane’s “soft spot.” Zane admits that he knew he desired Juniper long before they began working together to kill the Libiri.
Hana reports that a piercer, Vian, is present if Zane wants to mark Juniper. He worries that Juniper isn’t yet ready for this step, but she explains that he makes her feel safe. He tells her that he won’t leave her and that she should feel safe to say how she feels, which increases Juniper’s confidence that she wants his marking.
Chapter 42 Summary: “Juniper”
Vian is surrounded by other demons and covered in piercings. They greet Juniper warmly, and she asks for a tongue piercing. The crowd of demons watches eagerly, as trading marks is a beloved demonic celebration. They make a performance out of the marking. When Zane removes Juniper’s shirt, she realizes that she no longer feels shame about the scars that Kent inflicted. They have oral sex, which Zane interrupts to pierce her tongue. Juniper finds this only briefly painful. They finish their sexual encounter. When they leave the party afterward, Juniper feels that she has “found home” in Zane and his community.
Chapters 33-42 Analysis
This portion of the text highlights the theme of Revenge as a Positive Force as Juniper’s confidence grows after triumphing over Kent. In the scene where she tortures and kills him, Juniper echoes her pleading from the past to make Kent recall the attempted sacrifice. Whereas the novel’s previous flashback and nightmare sequences were evidence of Juniper’s lingering pain, her ability to use her past as a weapon against her attackers shows her gaining a sense of mastery over that past. Her choice to revisit this past highlights The Importance of Consent; when Juniper chooses to engage with her past, it becomes empowering instead of demeaning or painful. This choice is impactful in more than just the moment during which she tortures Kent: Following her triumph over him, Juniper is more resilient against the Watchers who seek to use her fears against her.
In addition, Kent’s murder scene highlights the Libiri’s hypocrisy. Even when he loses control over the conflict with Zane and Juniper, Kent insists that Juniper shouldn’t have fought against being sacrificed, arguing that “suffering is beautiful” when done for the sake of the Deep One (326). Despite this insistence, however, he doesn’t find similar beauty in his own suffering, which leads Juniper and Zane to taunt him. This scene indicates that the Libiri don’t believe in sacrifice when this concept indicates self-sacrifice; instead, they use their devotion to the Deep One merely as an excuse to commit violence against others.
The novel pivots directly from the graphic violence of Kent’s torture and murder to the public sex that Juniper and Zane engage in at the underground demon club, which clarifies the novel’s focus as an erotic romance first and a paranormal action narrative second. As in the violent scenes earlier in the novel, however, this extended scene of flirtation and sex plays into a broader development of Zane’s and Juniper’s characters individually and as a couple. Juniper feels that being brave enough to have public sex, which she has long fantasized about, is something that she can do in an emotionally safe way due to her growing closeness with Zane. The text frames this liberation as a force for good, regardless of it being taboo in many communities. Juniper’s satisfaction in finding a place where she can do as she desires (and where every desire, so long as it is consensual, is embraced and celebrated) thematically emphasizes The Value of Acceptance in her overall journey toward healing from trauma.
The acceptance offered at the demon club doesn’t come singularly from Zane, either: Numerous demons praise and encourage Juniper, both for her proclivity for violence and for her courage in expressing her sexuality so openly. This welcoming atmosphere from the demons upholds the novel’s sense that demons don’t deserve their unilaterally negative reputation. Though demons indulge in violence and promiscuous sex, the novel suggests that this is a matter of freedom and openness, not corruption; it comes from violating the consent of others, not from engaging in acts that society deems taboo. Juniper’s contentedness and sense of belongingness at the demon club indicate, moreover, that Juniper’s planned eternity in Hell is something to anticipate rather than dread, as Hell may be a place where she can be welcomed by a whole community that understands and embraces her.
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