Heartless Hunter

Heartless Hunter (2024) is the first installment in Kristen Ciccarelli’s new adult fantasy romance series The Crimson Moth. In a society where the New Republic executes witches, Rune Winters works secretly as the infamous Crimson Moth—a vigilante known for rescuing witches from certain death. Meanwhile, Gideon Sharpe, a captain in the Blood Guard, is determined to hunt down the Crimson Moth and ensure all witches are burned at the stake due to his tumultuous past with a witch. Heartless Hunter follows the dual perspectives of witch Rune Winters and witch hunter Gideon Sharpe in a tenuous game of cat and mouse.

This guide refers to the 2024 e-book edition published by Wednesday Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of graphic violence, executions, intimate partner violence, and abuse.

Plot Summary

Two years ago, brothers Gideon and Alexander (Alex) Sharpe killed the Roseblood Sister Queens, dismantled the Reign of Witches, and handed over power to the New Republic. The Red Peace regime was born, requiring the execution of all witches to restore citizens’ safety. During this time, Alex’s best friend, Rune Winters, was forced to turn in her grandmother (Nan) rather than be branded a witch sympathizer. After the rebellion, Rune’s first period reveals that she’s a witch. Rather than turn her in to the authorities, Alex is determined to protect the girl he secretly loves.

To atone for her role in Nan’s death, Rune adopts a vigilante alter-ego called the Crimson Moth to save witches from execution with the help of Alex and their friend Verity de Wilde. When the Blood Guard captures Seraphine Oakes, a powerful witch and Nan’s oldest friend, Rune commits to saving her. At night, she plays the part of the Crimson Moth. In the day, she portrays herself as a wealthy, vapid socialite. Attending operas and balls, Rune gains intel on recent witch captures and transfers to inform her rescues. At the opera after Seraphine’s capture, Rune learns Gideon Sharpe is the witch hunter who brought her in. When she invites him to her after-party with the intent of drugging him with a truth spell and gaining information about Seraphine’s whereabouts, Gideon rejects her.

During a meeting with his informant, Harrow, Gideon learns that Rune’s ship has been linked to smuggling escaped witches off the mainland, leading them to believe that Rune is either the Crimson Moth or in league with her. Gideon is dedicated to capturing the Crimson Moth, who hinders progress in the expulsion of witches and is thought to be behind the recent string of murders of Blood Guards. Harrow suggests Gideon pretend to court Rune to search her body for casting scars—the unique scars that turn silver when witches use drawn blood to cast spells.

With his new mission, Gideon attends Rune’s after-party. Though Rune is aware that Gideon’s interest in her is due to his suspicion that she’s a witch, she believes a courtship can be beneficial to her as the Moth. During the party, Rune receives a telegram inviting her as the guest of honor to the Luminaries Dinner, where she must make a speech lauding the Republic for its work against witches. When Gideon senses her uneasiness, Rune claims it’s only because she does not have a dress to wear. Their night ends in a moment of genuine intimacy, startling both, and Gideon flees the party. After returning home, Gideon designs the perfect dress for Rune and plans to search her body for scars at a fitting.

Rune meets with Alex and Verity to concoct a plan to save Seraphine from prison. They agree to sneak into the office of their peer Noah Creed’s mother, who is a prison warden, at the upcoming ball at their estate. Rune receives an invitation to meet Gideon at his place. There, he instructs her to strip down to her undergarments so he can get measurements for the dress. While taking measurements, Gideon finds no scars. Little does Gideon know that Rune only casts spells using her menstrual blood to conceal her identity. During the fitting, Gideon reveals his cruel experience serving as a tailor for Cressida Roseblood, a witch he fell in love with who tortured him. He adds that Seraphine is held at Seldom Harbor and will be transferred to the palace prison later that evening.

Rune latches onto this information and goes to Seldom Harbor to save Seraphine. Instead, she walks into a witch-hunting trap. Unable to see in the darkness, Gideon cannot identify her. Rune escapes and rushes to the Creeds’ masked ball, pretending she’s been there all along. She obtains the prison maps with Alex’s help. When Gideon shows up and questions her, Rune plays the fool and admits she’d told all her friends about the transfer at a luncheon earlier. Gideon is unable to arrest her without considerable proof, but he still doubts Rune’s identity.

Rune invites him to the Luminaries Dinner as her date, Gideon accepts, and they become more intimate. Gideon reveals Cressida’s true cruelty: She killed his parents and sister as punishment after he failed to meet her demands. Desperate to ensure Alex never met the same fate, Gideon helped the rebellion murder the Sister Queens and remove witches from power. The revelation fills Rune with horror, and she begins to understand Gideon’s hatred of witches. Despite their growing feelings for each other, Rune and Gideon remain dedicated to their respective missions. Gideon suggests skinny dipping to search Rune’s body for scars again, yet he still finds nothing.

Gideon is late to the Luminaries Dinner due to a new set of Blood Guard murders he’s called to inspect. Verity accompanies Rune to the event instead. Seraphine is brought to the Luminaries Dinner, and Rune is called to purge her in front of the crowd. Before she can do so, a surge of spell-fire surges toward the platform. The event dissolves into chaos. Gideon arrives in time to save Rune from the flames, and he discovers the spell’s casting signature belongs to Cressida.

With Seraphine back in prison after the dinner, Rune continues to plot her escape with Verity and Alex. Verity plans to steal Blood Guard uniforms from a peer who works at the Ministry of Public Safety, and Alex will take his brother’s prison access coin. Alex and Gideon play a game of cards, and Gideon loses his prison access coin to Alex in the bet. At the party, Gideon warns Alex that Cressida is not dead as they thought. Alex travels to tell Rune. He admits that he never killed Cressida. Instead, he had shown her mercy, warning her to flee and never return.

Gideon and a Blood Guard unit track down a group of witches at a print shop, but they walk into a Cressida-smelling trap. A magical bomb goes off and kills dozens of soldiers. Upon reading of the event in the paper, Rune fears Gideon died. When she arrives crying on his doorstep, Gideon invites her inside. They become fully intimate and admit their feelings for each other. The following morning, Harrow visits Gideon. He pretends that his feelings for Rune are fake. Rune overhears, heartbroken. She seeks out Alex for comfort after the incident. Alex admits to loving her and proposes, offering her a better life in Caelis, a peaceful city accessible by boat. Rune accepts, and they plan to leave after saving Seraphine. Rune, Alex, and Verity meet in Rune’s hidden casting room to discuss the rescue plan. When they leave, Rune finds hand-sewn roses from Gideon on her bed and a written apology.

On the day of Seraphine’s rescue, Gideon learns of Rune’s identity as the Crimson Moth. Enraged and devastated, he confronts, arrests, and brings her to the city square to be executed with Seraphine. When Alex intervenes and publicly proclaims to be a witch sympathizer who knowingly aided the Crimson Moth for years, Gideon arrests him for treason. Before Rune and Seraphine are executed, an army of witches floods the square. Verity reveals herself to be Cressida in disguise. Cressida frees Seraphine and Rune and demands Gideon join her side. When he refuses, Cressida shoots him. Alex sacrifices himself to spare Gideon’s life. Rune casts and causes a large earthquake to give the witches time to flee. Before she leaves, Gideon issues her a warning that he will never stop hunting her. Rune, Cressida, Seraphine, and the other witches board a ship for Caelis. Though Rune is hesitant to follow Cressida after hearing the cruelty she’s capable of, it is her only option for survival.