59 pages • 1 hour read
Harley LarouxHer Soul to Take
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 11-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary: “Rae”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, sexual content, rape, and graphic violence.
Rae watches the video of the murder of Marcus, and she is surprised that the entire school was not closed down given how violent it was. She wonders if Leon was so furious about finding her walking alone at night because there is a murderer at large.
Rae decides to do a paranormal investigation at St. Thaddeus—a mock summoning to get more views on her channel. She plans to skip a portion of the summoning from the grimoire because she does not actually want to summon a demon. She drives out to St. Thaddeus, which is deep in the woods. After she drives to the gate, she hikes for 20 minutes. Rae records as she hikes, telling the story of the miners trapped by a mine collapse. The miners were forced to cannibalize the dead and then the living; only three survived. As she walks, Rae finds a strange trinket of fishbones hanging from a tree.
Rae reaches the Gothic cathedral and finds that while one door is chained, the padlock on another has been cut. Inside, she finds a shrine erected with more of the trinkets. There are also fresh footprints. Rae feels unnerved by the space, but she quickly sets up the mock demon summoning.
Rae considers stopping but continues because integrity has not helped her channel become popular. As she’s doing the summoning, she feels tingling. She planned not to include blood, but the chalk in her hands snaps, and she scrapes her knuckles. There is smoke, and then a humanoid figure begins to form; when he opens his eyes, they are gold like those of the picture drawn in the book.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Leon”
Leon knew that he would be summoned soon because the grimoire was still somewhere around Abelaum. Leon plans to kill the mortal who summoned him, knowing that “[m]ost mortals [aren’t] so lucky to possess a protective amulet, like Kent had” (114). However, he is bewildered when he realizes that Rae has summoned him. Leon realizes that she summoned him for a video, and he’s appalled. Rae summoned him by accident, which has never happened before.
Rae believes that Leon is pranking her and is angry with him. Leon pins her to the wall and tells her she is delving into things she does not understand. When he releases her, he tells her to give him the book. Leon cannot take it; she must give it to him willingly. He tells her that if she runs, he will hunt her. Nevertheless, Rae decides to run. Leon knows that the Eld will also hunt her because of the scent of magic on her, and he is determined to get her first.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Rae”
Rae runs through the pouring rain, uncertain of how Leon pulled off his prank and with no cell phone service. She hears something behind her and then smells the same rotten meat stench she did when she saw the “statue” (actually an Eld) in the woods. She makes it to her car and drives home.
Rae goes to sleep but wakes up in the night without knowing what woke her. In the kitchen, as she gets a drink of water, she briefly sees someone standing in the yard. When she looks again, it’s gone. The next morning, she uploads the videos she took and watches the video she took of Leon. In a single frame, she sees a “dark figure with Leon’s face, with golden eyes and sharp grinning teeth” (130).
Chapter 14 Summary: “Rae”
On Monday, Rae is jumpy on campus. She now believes that she summoned a demon and that the demon is Leon. Rae wants to get Leon to leave without handing over the grimoire because that’s her only power over him.
Leon finds her at the end of the day, appearing by her side. Rae tells him that she knows what he is and shows him the still frame, but he does not admit it. Nevertheless, Leon tells her that she will give him the grimoire. She refuses and runs from him.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Leon”
Leon follows Rae leisurely. Rae walked to campus again, which was foolish because the Eld were swarming. Leon realizes that when he takes the grimoire and leaves, the Hadleighs will sacrifice Rae. He is uncomfortable that this thought bothers him, reassuring himself that he does not care about any human and that Rae is not worth staying and risking his life.
Leon realizes that Rae is not going home; she’s gone inside a church. Leon follows her in, and she hits him on the head with a crucifix. Rae asks Leon if he’s a demon, and he admits it. Leon asks if she needs to see more tricks to be persuaded or if she will give him the grimoire. He shows her his golden eyes and his forked tongue. Then, the door to the church bangs open, and an Eld enters.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Rae”
The Eld enters the church; it looks exactly like the statue Rae saw in the woods. Rae asks Leon to do something, and he mocks her for seeking his help after trying to kill him. Nevertheless, when the Eld attacks, Leon intercepts and kills it.
Leon tells her that the Eld, which would have dismembered her and dragged her away to consume her slowly, is the least of what will hunt her if she does not give him the grimoire. Rae asks him if the Eld will stop hunting her if she does so, and he admits that they might not. When she asks him what she can do, Leon tells her that she can offer him her soul in exchange for his protection, but Rae refuses.
Then, Rae asks why he does not just rape her, and he tells her, “If you’re going to be damned, you need to go willingly” (150). Rae asks him to have sex with her.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Rae”
Rae and Leon have sex in the graveyard on a headstone. Rae is enthusiastic, but Leon still reminds her of the safe word. They engage in blood play and consensual pleasure and pain activities. Leon encourages her to give him her soul, saying that he could bring her pleasure forever. Rae wonders if she has not already given her soul to him by having sex with him.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Leon”
Leon hadn’t planned to propose a deal to Rae but is now obsessed with the idea: “[S]he was mine. I needed her soul” (163). Rae rises, and Leon realizes that she’ll be cold without leggings (which he tore off her). He tells her that he will escort her home and that she can then give him the grimoire. Rae asks him why he is in Abelaum, and he tells her that he has been in service to Kent Hadleigh.
As they begin walking, Rae asks how she can protect herself from the Eld once Leon is gone. He tells her that she should move away from Abelaum, but she tells him she does not have the money. He suggests boarding up the windows and burning sage and rosemary from sundown to sunrise. Leon also tells her to stay away from Kent and the other Hadleighs, and Rae tells him that they’ve been kind to her. Leon realizes that he feels guilty that Rae may be killed by the Hadleighs, and he does not like it. He reminds himself that he “[doesn’t] owe this woman a damn thing, but it sure as hell [feels] like [he] d[oes]” (168). Leon tries to tell her that Kent and the other Hadleighs want Rae as a sacrifice, but she does not believe him. She tells him that he can have the grimoire and leave; she will figure out what to do alone.
When they reach the cabin, the front door is open, and Rae’s cat, Cheesecake, is outside. Her cabin has been ransacked. Leon knows that a witch was there and that the only witch in Abelaum is Everly. The grimoire is gone, so Everly must have taken it. There is a rotten smell lingering. Leon tells Rae not to leave the house, and then they both see Cheesecake get snatched from the porch.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Rae”
Leon goes after Cheesecake, and Rae grabs a bat and runs after them. She finds Leon leaning against a tree with Cheesecake in his arms. Leon tells her to take the cat and go inside. He says that she should keep the windows covered and the lights on and burn herbs outside the door.
Eventually, Rae assumes that Leon has chased off the monsters. Rae considers how she got involved with Leon, putting herself in more danger by doing so. She knows that she cannot accept his bargain because it must come with a catastrophic price. Rae lies down to sleep.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Rae”
Rae wakes up late with marks on her body from her time with Leon. She goes to the library over lunch to upload her video of the summoning. Though she is no longer hoping to go viral, she wants to find someone online who might help her. She has a perfect video of the summoning, but Leon appears before she can upload it. He warns her that if she puts it online, Hell will come after her.
He then asks her if she’s ready to take his deal, and she says no. Leon asks her how she will survive, and she tells him that she will find a solution and may even ask Kent for help. She asks him why he didn’t kill Kent, and he tells her that Kent has a protective amulet. Leon teases Rae, and she begs him to help her orgasm, which he does not do, instead leaving her to suffer through her next class.
Chapters 11-20 Analysis
This section develops the enemies-to-lovers plotline as Leon shifts from being Rae’s antagonist to becoming Rae’s protector. He has not fully embraced the latter role because she will not agree to give him her soul—a symbol introduced in this section that will become more prominent later. Despite their developing relationship and the hints that Leon is developing deeper feelings for Rae, their interactions thus remain laced with acrimony.
Notably, their sexual encounters break this pattern, as Leon consistently stresses the importance of consent. This underscores the theme of Consensual Power Dynamics. Indeed, even the pair’s arguments develop this idea. For instance, Leon wants to get the grimoire from Rae, but she does not want to give it to him because it is her only power over him. In contrast to Kent, however, Rae does not use the grimoire to compel Leon to do anything he does not want to do—or, in fact, anything at all—retaining it only as a form of self-protection. Moreover, Leon cannot take the grimoire by force; Rae must give the grimoire to him willingly. Leon even has the opportunity to regain the grimoire through deceit—by claiming that the Eld will stop attacking her if she no longer has the grimoire. That he does not reveals the nuances of consent—it is not merely about the absence of force but also the presence of honesty—and also suggests The Transformative Power of Love, as Leon’s feelings for Rae have begun to override his typical self-interest. Similarly, Rae must consent to give Leon her soul. Even when the grimoire is stolen, Leon does not press his advantage over Rae, though she now has no bargaining power: His attempts to get her to pledge her soul to him are motivated as much by concern for her safety as by possessiveness.
Rae’s full awakening to the supernatural events surrounding her coincides both with her deepening relationship with Leon and with the introduction of the theme of Survival, Autonomy, and Trust in a Dangerous World. While watching the video of the summoning, Rae realizes that she has misunderstood the world: “But after staring at that golden-eyed figure, blurry but undeniable, I knew: Leon wasn’t human. The thing in the photo wasn’t human. I believed the summoning ritual had worked. I believed I had summoned a demon. I believed that demon was Leon” (131). This moment makes her realize that she is in real danger: Not only has she summoned a demon, but the supernatural creatures she has been seeing are also real. More terrifying is the fact that the Eld seem focused on attacking Rae, though she does not understand why nor what to do in response. She rejects Leon’s attempts to convince her to give him her soul, determined to find a way to protect herself: She had originally planned to upload the video of the summoning to gain popularity for her vlog, but now she is desperate to find someone online who could help her survive. Her determination not to accept Leon’s help speaks to the mistrust that still exists within the relationship. For instance, Leon offers Rae advice on how to survive, including staying away from Victoria and Jeremiah Hadleigh, but Rae is skeptical of his advice because she knows he wants her soul. Likewise, though Leon protects Rae from the Eld several times, Rae believes that he will abandon her once the grimoire is stolen. The danger that Rae is exposed to because she refuses to accept help highlights the importance of mutual support in desperate situations.
While Rae struggles to survive the Eld’s attacks on her, Leon is striving for autonomy. He knows that he will never be free unless the page in the grimoire with his true name is destroyed. As long as it is circulating, he could be summoned and forced into servitude like he was to the Hadleighs.
