Butcher & Blackbird

This section further establishes the novel as part of the Dark Romance genre, developing the theme of The Complexities of Love in Dark Circumstances. Sloane and Rowan only encounter David, who threatens to destroy their romantic relationship by ending their lives, because of their hobby of killing serial killers, illustrating some of the challenges and dangers associated with their unconventional and dark circumstances. However, Sloane and Rowan save each other’s lives a few times throughout the book, and Sloane saves Rowan from David; this seems to enhance their romance rather than diminish it. Although they both begin the book worried that their violent hobby makes them ineligible for romance, by embracing it, they learn to accept not only each other’s dark sides but their own as well. That acceptance enables them to develop a unique relationship that suits their unconventional and dark circumstances. For example, when Rowan proposes, he hides Sloane’s engagement ring inside the eye socket of a serial killer they have just killed together. It is a gruesome detail that points to the questions about The Ethics of Vigilante Justice that remain unresolved, but it also shows Rowan’s deep understanding of Sloane as a person. Butcher & Blackbird is a Dark Romance novel, but this subgenre still adheres to some of the conventions of the generalized Romance genre, such as a happy ending in which the two protagonists find true love and fulfillment in a long-term relationship with each other.

In this section, Sloane begins incorporating color into her artwork again, which symbolizes how her love with Rowan has begun to heal her trauma. Sloane had stopped using color in her art after killing the art teacher who had sexually abused Lark when they were teenagers. The first time she uses color again is in the tattoo she draws for Rowan, a design that depicts a raven and a kitchen knife to symbolize their love for and commitment to one another. The colors in the tattoo show that Rowan has helped Sloane process her past and heal from it so that they can build a better future. It also represents the resolution of the theme of The Nuances of Identity, as Sloane’s tattoo joins Rowan’s restaurant as a symbol of their newly integrated personal identities as well as their collective identity as a couple. Sloane also uses colored pieces of fabric in the web she builds for Dr. Stephen Rostis. As macabre as this installation is, it too symbolizes the healing power of love because, now that they are in a serious relationship, Sloane and Rowan kill their targets together instead of competing against each other. This is much safer and helps to ensure that both characters stay alive so that they can continue their relationship.

The Epilogue re-opens the question of the ethics of vigilante justice from a new perspective. It sets up the events to come in the sequel, Leather & Lark, and features a switch in narration. Whereas the novel’s chapters were narrated by either Sloane or Rowan, the epilogue is narrated by a different, unnamed first-person narrator who poses a threat to them. The unnamed narrator is identified only as the sibling of one of the people Rowan has killed in the past who is planning to kill Lachlan in revenge for Rowan killing his or her brother. The epilogue teases the plot of the sequel, which will explore the romance between Lachlan and Lark. But it also demonstrates that Sloane and Rowan’s murders are not the morally righteous crimes they believe them to be. The existence of the unnamed Epilogue narrator reveals two important aspects of vigilante justice that Sloane and Rowan have not yet reckoned with. First, murdering any human being can cause pain to others, no matter how bad you believe the murdered person was. Sloane and Rowan murder to lessen suffering, but the unnamed narrator shows that they cause pain to others besides their victims. Second, the epilogue demonstrates that revenge killings can beget other revenge killings. Sloane and Rowan’s vigilante justice has set off a chain reaction that may end with vigilante justice being carried out against them for the murders they have committed.