Ignite Me

Warner tries to comfort Juliette to no avail as she struggles with her grief. Though he swears he is sorry, she doesn’t believe him. She reels from the news, focusing particularly on the loss of Adam, whom she tried to protect from her dangerous powers, and resolves to go on, vowing revenge.

When he returns, Warner is surprised to find Juliette ready for action. Juliette reclaims her notebook (which she wrote while incarcerated in Shatter Me, and Warner read and quoted in Unravel Me). She is surprised to learn that Anderson is not local, though she hides this surprise when Warner frames her assumption as naive. Anderson has taken Sonya and Sara to the capital, which both makes Juliette eager to rescue them and leads her to wonder if there are other survivors. Warner discourages hope, believing it will lead to pain; he has seen the scope of the destruction. He offers Juliette a choice: She can either stay with him or live in hiding for the rest of her days. She counters that she plans to kill Anderson, no matter the consequences. Warner is pleased she is “finally ready to fight” (15). She vows to destroy The Reestablishment and Warner offers his help.

Juliette is astounded at Warner’s offer, given that in Shatter Me, Warner alleged wanting to use her powers for The Reestablishment’s gain. He lied, he counters, and can scarcely believe he got away with it, framing the plan to use “a supposedly psychotic girl [for] torture” as “ludicrous” (17). He claims he hates his father and that he removed Juliette from the asylum because he wished to know more about her in order to help his mother, whose illness prohibits her being touched—an apparent antithesis to Juliette’s powers.

Warner explains that any touch, even from his mother’s own hands, causes her excruciating pain—a condition Supreme Commander Anderson treated with drugs as it grew worse. Warner became obsessed with finding ways to help his mother, hoping that Juliette’s powers held the answers. Juliette feels ashamed that she never wondered about people whose “powers” had worse implications than her own, though she grows annoyed when Warner chuckles over enjoying infuriating her. He describes pushing her to defend herself, leading up to “the torture room” (21), referencing a scene in Shatter Me in which Juliette believed herself forced to rescue a child from spikes without touching him, an event she will learn, in the next chapter, to have been manufactured.

Warner is confused at Juliette’s outrage over being forced to torment a child, then laughs when he realizes she didn’t realize the event was simulated. He points out inconsistencies in her experience that reveal the simulation. He admits culpability in torturing her mentally but denies harming a child. She shouts at him, both angry and relieved. Warner steals her journal back and leaves.

Juliette decides that she should be the one to lead the resistance against The Reestablishment, claiming that she has “always known” this is the right course. Warner returns while Juliette is pulling back her hair; the movement exposes part of her stomach, and the two recall kissing (in Unravel Me), which leads to awkwardness between them. Juliette looks at the meal Warner has brought, regretting rejecting food in the past, wishing she’d instead become strong enough to fight her own battles, as it may have saved her friends. Warner laughs over her assumption (in Shatter Me) that he was giving her nice things as a ploy, when they were gifts. His controlling behavior around the soldiers, he asserts, was to protect Juliette from them, as she doesn’t know her own beauty. He is unapologetic for his actions—even for killing the soldier in Shatter Me, as the man abused his spouse and children. As Juliette tries to apologize, Warner asserts that she doesn’t understand the choices he’s been faced with and shouldn’t try to, as this will only result in disappointment. He departs abruptly.

Alone, Juliette muses on the difficulty of viewing Warner in a new light, and how her attraction to him wars with her initial impressions. Putting these thoughts aside, she enters Warner’s closet, which she is surprised to find enormous. She is reluctantly charmed by the realization that Warner likes fashion. As she dresses, she thinks of the intimacy created by understanding Warner more deeply.

Warner wakes Juliette from a nightmare about being shot. He soothes her and sits with her despite the late hour, citing chronic insomnia. She cuddles close to him, but he pulls away, expressing that it hurts him to be close to her when she doesn’t love him in return. Astonished anew at this show of emotion, Juliette asks why Warner allows others to view him as cruel. He expresses disregard for the validation of others. He confesses, to her surprise, that she is the only one he really talks to. She asks why he opens up to her, but he grows frustrated, referencing that he has twice confessed his love to her. He asks about her attraction to Adam, disgusted when she cites basic kindness. Juliette angrily retorts that Warner doesn’t understand and the two argue. Warner asserts that he knows Juliette wants him, and that he, unlike Adam, admires her bravery and courage rather wishing her to stay her former, timid self. He promises to be there for her when she “[comes] back to life” (38).

The next morning, Warner introduces Juliette to Delalieu, an older manservant (who, in Chapter 56, Juliette will also learn is Warner’s grandfather). They plan to use Delalieu’s breakfast cart to smuggle Juliette off base. Delalieu is shocked when Juliette snaps at Warner’s revelation that he smuggled her into the base in a body bag, but Warner excuses her attitude as originating from claustrophobia, leading Juliette to remember Warner can sense emotion. The two men leave for a private discussion.

Juliette dresses, both missing her suit (which was created for her by an Omega Point engineer in Unravel Me to protect her from accidentally touching anyone) and enjoying real clothing. She attempts to eavesdrop on Warner and Delalieu’s conversation about safety, but Warner catches her. They depart the base, Juliette bracing herself for what she might find.