Butcher & Blackbird

“‘How come you didn’t pick a name with Blackbird? Raven hair, flighty nature, the song…I’m going to hazard a guess it’s from your childhood, right? I heard you singing it back in the cage.’

[…] ‘That’s for me,’ she says. ‘Orb Weaver is for them.’

Sloane’s eyes have darkened, and with just a blink she’s gone from a sexy, runny-nosed, and ravenous beauty to a wicked, remorseless, iron-willed killer.

I nod. ‘I get it.’

I might be the only person who does.”

This quote illustrates The Nuances of Identity by showing that Sloane has two very different “sides”—a lovely side and a dark or violent side—that she can switch between almost instantaneously. This quote introduces the romance between Sloane and Rowan because, rather than finding Sloane’s different sides off-putting, Rowan is intrigued. He also has two different sides and is thrilled by the idea that he and Sloane might be able to truly understand and accept each other—something he has only been able to accomplish so far with his brothers.

“The need.

It starts like an itch. Irritation beneath my skin. Nothing I do releases the constant whisper of it in my flesh. It crawls into my mind and doesn’t let go.

It becomes pain.

The longer I deny it, the more it drags me into the abyss.

I must stop it. I’ll do anything.

And there’s only one thing that works.

Killing.”

This quote complicates The Ethics of Vigilante Justice because it is one of the rare passages where Sloane describes her “need” for violence and murder, rather than describing the sense of justice she feels when she rids the planet of evil serial killers. Despite Sloane’s intentions in killing serial killers, which may be noble, Sloane also has a dark, possibly pathological relationship with violence, which raises the question of whether her vigilante justice activities are morally good after all.

“‘There’s something about this competition that feels…inspiring, I guess. Like an adventure. Nothing has really broken through to make me feel excited like this in a long time. And I think—or hope—that Rowan would have tried to kill me already if he wanted to. I don’t know why, and this is maybe the most reckless, impulsive part of this whole idea, but I believe he feels like I do, like he’s looking for something to alleviate an itch that’s getting harder and harder to scratch.’

Lark hums again, but this time the sound is deeper, darker. I’ve spoken to her about this before. She knows where I’m at. Relief is harder to find with each kill. It doesn’t last long. Something is missing.”

This quote illustrates The Complexities of Love in Dark Circumstances. Sloane looks forward to her competition with Rowan because it excites her in a way that is getting harder to achieve by killing serial killers, but the real reason she finds the competition exciting is because she has romantic feelings for Rowan, not because it is a competition.