The Black Dagger Brotherhood_ An Insider's Guide - J. R. Ward [77]
She pulled out a sash from the tangle and went back into the garage with the pale pink strip of satin. Picking up the gas can, she grabbed the box of matches and didn’t hesitate. She walked out to the priceless swirl of satins and silks, doused them with that clear, sweet accelerant, and positioned herself upwind as she took out a match.
She lit the sash. Then threw it.
The explosion was more than she’d expected, knocking her back, scorching her face, flaring into a great fireball.
As orange flames and black smoke rose, she screamed at the inferno.
—LOVER REVEALED, p. 266
I had such a clear image of that fire, with her running around those burning dresses, screaming—it was such a temporal representation of the internal shift she was going through, a wiping clean of the past in preparation for her moving forward.
And man, does she get her act together. One of my favorite scenes in the whole series is when Marissa slaps down her brother and the whole Princeps Council during its vote on mandatory sehclusion for unmated females of the aristocracy (which starts on p. 419). Rising to her feet, she asserts her status as head of her bloodline, because she is older than Havers, and votes no, putting an end to the discussion and the restriction. It was a total reversal for her from where she was in that bathroom, no longer under the glymera’s control, but asserting control over them.
I also like where she ended up. She’s perfectly suited for running Safe Place and is making a real contribution to the race that way. Plus it’s nice that after years of strife, she and Wrath get to work together—because it gives him a chance to prove to her over and over again that he truly does respect her.
On a side note, when it comes to the females in the series, it’s significant that at the end of Lover Revealed, the shellans all come together in Marissa’s office, and Beth gives out the little statues of the owls. It shows a side of the shellans that I hadn’t been able to work into a book yet—namely that they are, like the Brothers, bonded to one another in a special way.
Back to Butch. At the end of the book, when he’s being inducted into the Brotherhood, it’s clear that he isn’t complete, even with the new role he has in the world:
Wrath cleared his throat, but still, the king’s voice was slightly hoarse. “You are the first inductee in seventy-five years. And you . . . you are worthy of the blood you and I share, Butch of mine blooded line.”
Butch let his head fall loose on his shoulders and he wept openly . . . though not out of happiness, as they must have assumed.
He wept at the hollowness he felt.
Because however wonderful this all was, it seemed empty to him.
Without his mate to share his life with, he was but a screen for events and circumstance to pass through. He was not even empty, for he was no vessel to hold even the thinnest of air.
He lived, though was not truly alive.
—LOVER REVEALED, p. 446
Without Marissa he is less than zero, and that is true for all the Brothers. Once they bond they are completed, and severing that relationship leads to a breakdown that is irreparable (I’m thinking of Tohr now). Fortunately for Butch, Marissa and he work everything out and are reunited at the end.
Speaking of unions . . . let’s talk about sex. Butch made me blush. A lot.
Maybe it was because, of all the Brothers, he tended to talk the most when he was making love. Or maybe it was the way he handled Marissa and her virginity. Or maybe it was just that, quite frankly, I think he’s monster hot. Whatever the reason, of all the series so far, I think his book is the hottest of the bunch.
So it makes sense I’d cover the whole sex thing when discussing him.
I get asked in interviews every now and again how I feel about writing “hot” books, and whether I do it to meet the market demands for