Onyx Storm

By the book's end, Violet's quest to find a cure for Xaden's venin affliction has failed. The journey to find the seventh dragon breed comes up empty: the irids refuse to help, offering no cure and no aid for the war, and treat Andarna's choice to return with them as a matter of education rather than alliance. Andarna, with Violet's blessing, breaks her bond with Violet to go be raised among her own kind, leaving Violet without her dragon and heartbroken.

When Aretia comes under direct attack, Violet and her squad rush to defend it, and the fight culminates at Dunne's temple, which Aaric identifies as essential to Tyrrendor's survival. Theophanie, the silver-haired venin storm-wielder who has been shadowing Violet throughout the book, takes Mira hostage and demands Xaden, Violet, and Jack Barlowe. She fails to kill Jack, who is returned to Navarre custody, but she slits Mira's throat; Mira survives only because Brennan is able to heal her, his power boosted by Sloane Mairi siphoning magic from Dain. In the chaos, Aaric's long-hidden signet turns out to be precognition, and he hands Violet a dagger with which she kills Theophanie. At the same moment, Xaden finally gives in and fully channels his venin power, unleashing his shadows to slaughter as many venin as he can rather than continue holding back.

Violet comes back to herself twelve hours later at Riorson House with her brother Brennan, having no memory of anything that happened after she killed Theophanie. She discovers a wedding ring on her finger and a marriage certificate showing she has married Xaden, making her Duchess of Tyrrendor. She realizes Imogen used her memory-erasing signet on her, and when confronted, Imogen insists she only did what Violet herself asked her to do — leaving exactly what happened, and why Violet wanted it forgotten, unresolved.

The larger war is unresolved as well: Navarre, Poromiel, and the Tyrrendor revolutionaries have only an uneasy alliance, an army of 40,000 secured at great cost (including the death of gryphon flier Trager), and no confirmed cure for the venin plague now afflicting Xaden. The book closes on Violet's shock and confusion at her missing memories and her new, unexplained marriage, rather than on any resolution of the venin threat.

Violet Sorrengail is nearing two years at Basgiath War College as full war breaks out against the invading venin army, and an uneasy three-way alliance forms between Navarre, Poromiel, and Tyrrendor's revolutionaries. Violet's central private mission throughout the book is to find a cure for Xaden Riorson, who has turned venin but has been resisting channeling his power; she comes to believe the seventh breed of dragon (Andarna's kind, the irids) may hold the answer. To protect this secret, Violet has Imogen erase the memory of Jack Barlowe, a venin who discovered the truth.

Over the course of the book, Violet and her friends commit treason by altering a wardstone to let Poromielan gryphon fliers use magic inside Navarre's wards, cementing the alliance but getting Violet's squad punished and reassigned. Violet assembles a hand-picked team — including Mira, Dain, Ridoc, Xaden, Cat, Drake, Prince Halden, and Anna — after her first mission (searching for her father's research) turns into a trap that kills Captain Grady and Aura Beinhaven. Xaden is also reinstated as Duke of Tyrrendor with a Senarium seat, formally elevating his status and pulling him into politics alongside Violet.

The squad travels abroad seeking her father's remaining research and allies: in Deverelli they recover books from Violet's father's collection, lose Anna when Prince Halden is caught stealing, and only survive King Courtlyn's wrath because Xaden channels his venin power to kill the threat — the first time he fully gives in, though he pulls back afterward. They secure use of the Deverelli palace as a base. Searching further islands for the seventh dragon breed, they encounter a queen who can offer no troops (Dunne), a triumvirate that tries to poison them (Hedotis, where they learn Xaden's mother married one of the triumvirate), and a lethal card game on Zehyllna that costs gryphon flier Trager his life but secures an army of 40,000. The irids finally appear, but refuse to offer a cure for venin or troops, and disapprove of Andarna; Andarna chooses to leave with the irid Leothan to be trained among her own kind, and Andarna and Violet's bond is broken with Violet's consent, leaving Violet without a dragon.

Meanwhile, Navarre has been suffering constant destructive storms since losing Lilith's storm-wielding ability, and a mysterious silver-haired venin storm-wielder, later identified as Theophanie, keeps appearing at key moments, including during a venin infiltration of Basgiath disguised as scribes. When Aretia is attacked, the squad returns to defend it and Dunne's temple. Theophanie kidnaps Mira and slits her throat (Mira survives thanks to Brennan's healing, boosted by Sloane siphoning power from Dain), and fails to kill Jack Barlowe, who is sent back to a Navarre cell. In the climactic fight, Aaric's signet is revealed to be precognition; he gives Violet a dagger, and she kills Theophanie. At the same time, Xaden fully channels his venin power in battle, unleashing his shadows against the venin forces — a major, unresolved turning point in how much of himself he has now given over to the affliction.

The book ends with Violet waking twelve hours later with no memory of anything after killing Theophanie, discovering she is now married to Xaden and is Duchess of Tyrrendor. Imogen admits to erasing her memory but says she only did what Violet asked, leaving the circumstances and reasoning behind the marriage and the memory wipe as the major open mystery heading into the next book. Other open threads: whether a cure for Xaden's (now fully channeled) venin condition exists, Andarna's fate and training among the irids, the status of the war alliance and the 40,000-strong army, Xaden's political position as Duke, and Jack Barlowe's knowledge in Navarre custody.