Iron Flame Chapters 24–27 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapters 24–27

Chapter 24

Dain immediately protests, claiming that Violet is already injured and that the RSC rules state cadets must be healthy for the interrogation exam in order to ensure accurate results. Varrish refuses to reconsider, however, under the guise that Violet would likely be injured already if she was really being interrogated by the enemy. Varrish tells Dain to use his memory-reading signet on Violet and goads him by saying that he can uncover what really happened at Resson last year. When that does not work, he tries to manipulate Dain by appealing to his pride, saying that he can learn why Violet chose Xaden over him. Dain refuses, claiming that it is against the Codex, and leaves.

Enraged, Varrish punches Violet’s injured arm out of its socket, and Violet immediately passes out from the pain. Violet wakes an undetermined amount of time later to find Nolon mending her arm. Nolon tells Varrish that Violet will need to sleep off the mending and asks him to come with him to see an unnamed patient who could use his “particular skills.” As soon as the men leave, Sawyer uses his signet to melt the hinges off of the door. Violet can sense power coming from her dagger; she follows her instincts and uses that power to open the lock. She is stunned because objects are not supposed to be able to hold magic. The four cadets escape the torture chamber.

Chapter 25

Violet and her friends leave the cave, run into Grady, and request that he give them the patch for escaping. Later, Violet and her friends go to Battle Brief, where they receive a memo that claims that Zolya, the third largest city in the Braevick province, has fallen to riders with “blue fire dragons.” Markham says that the leaflets are fake and chastises the students for not being able to tell when something is propaganda. However, Violet thinks that Markham is concealing the truth. She is particularly struck by the phrase “blue fire dragons,” which she interprets as referring to the wyvern that breathe blue fire.

Violet guesses that Markham is going to quickly pivot to distract the students from the “propaganda,” and she is proven right when, moments later, he brings none other than Jack Barlowe, who was thought to have been killed by Violet the previous year, into the classroom. He appears to have been mended by Nolon. Violet is stunned because she essentially dropped a mountain on him during their previous encounter, and does not understand how he could have possibly survived. Violet and her friends wonder if Jack is going to try to get revenge.

Chapter 26

Violet is surprisingly undeterred by Jack’s return, partially because she feels confident that her training sessions with Xaden, Rhiannon, and Imogen have strengthened her hand-to-hand combat skills, and partially because Jack has spent the past several months healing in the infirmary; she thinks it’s unlikely he’s in peak fighting shape.

During Battle Brief, Devera tells the cadets that there was a massive attack on Samara, and Violet is seized with panic, as that’s where Mira and Xaden are stationed. Devera continues on to say that the outpost was able to defend itself thanks to three riders who were on patrol at the time of the attack, and that one rider was severely injured. She then makes eye contact with Violet, and scratches the left side of her neck—the location of Xaden’s relic—and Violet interprets this as Devera telling her that the wounded rider is Xaden. Violet rushes out of the Battle Brief room so that she and Tairn can head to Samara, even though she knows that she will be severely punished for flying without leave. Bodhi meets her on the way, lends her his flight jacket, and Violet and Tairn set off for Samara.

Chapter 27

Violet and Tairn arrive just before nightfall, and Violet frantically runs through the damaged outpost, looking for Xaden. She runs into Mira, who tells Violet that Xaden is in the sparring gym and credits him with saving the outpost. Violet bursts into the room and is stunned to see that Xaden appears unharmed. She starts seething with rage and realizes that she is overcome with Tairn’s emotions. Xaden pulls her into his chest and tells her to put her shields up, but she is too overwhelmed to block out Tairn’s emotions that are flooding their bond. Xaden then takes her into the bathing chamber attached to the gym and puts Violet under the cold water to shock her system and help her snap out of Tairn’s emotional hold.

Violet starts to calm down and Xaden notices that she is wearing another man’s flight jacket. She angrily reprimands him for being jealous and tells him that it belongs to Bodhi, who was just trying to help her. Violet is also angry because she broke the rules to get to Xaden and he is not even harmed. Xaden then shows her a recently mended scar, and Violet realizes he nearly lost an arm. Her anger recedes when she learns that Xaden really was gravely injured, and Xaden kisses her, claiming that she flew all the way here because she loves him and that he is “just as reckless for [her]” as she is for him.

They’re both overcome with desire and start to have sex, but Violet is worried that Xaden will use the experience to get Violet to admit that she still loves him. She wants to have sex anyway; Xaden reminds her that she told him last year that she cannot separate emotions from sex. When Violet quips that maybe she is learning how, Xaden says that he does not want her to change because he wants her to stay the “woman he fell for,” and that he is determined to keep fighting for her until they can be together again.

Violet tells Xaden that she needs him, and that he can fight for her by being the vulnerable one for once by taking a chance without knowing how she feels. She continues to say that if Xaden wants her heart back, then he should “risk [his] first this time.” The two give in to their arousal as well as their unresolved feelings and have passionate sex, and Violet admits to herself that she loves Xaden even if she is not ready to say it out loud yet. Afterwards, Xaden, in a display of trust, invites Violet to fly with him to the rendezvous site to drop off the daggers to the gryphon fliers.

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