Heartless Hunter (Crimson Moth, #1)

by Kristen Ciccarelli

The two brothers were inverse mirrors of each other. They had the same tall frames and handsome features: firm jaws, prominent brows. But where Alex was golden and warm as a summer day, Gideon was closed and dark as a locked, windowless room.

She was the Crimson Moth—a wanted criminal, not to mention a witch, hiding in plain sight. But this wouldn’t be the first time she had walked into a space full of the people who hunted her kind. She’d done it hundreds of times before without batting an eye.

Rune glanced up and their eyes locked. An electric hum made the hair on her arms rise. Like being caught in a storm right before lightning strikes.

That was before the Red Peace outlawed the old operas. The travesties that played here now were all preapproved by the Ministry of Public Safety. They weren’t stories—not good ones, anyway. They were thinly veiled lessons about how to behave under the new regime. Reminders of who the enemy was and why you should despise them.

RUNE WINTERS. Every time Gideon looked at the young heiress, she reminded him of the sea: steal-your-breath beautiful on the surface, with the promise of untold depths beneath.

He’d pleased her. It was written clear across her face. He didn’t like what this knowledge did to him. Warming him through. Thawing his icy heart. It shouldn’t feel this good to make her happy.

His body buzzed at the lack of her. As if Rune in his arms was the only true thing in the world, and until she was there again, everything was wrong.

People don’t like their rights infringed upon, sir.”

He was choosing her, she realized. This boy who saw exactly who she was—what she was—and didn’t care. Or rather: cared so much, he wanted to give her back what the revolution had taken. In Caelis, we’ll go to the opera house every day of the week. Where they show real operas, not that propaganda you despise. Again, Rune let herself imagine it: a life far away from the Republic. No more worrying about who was watching or listening. No more pretending to be something she wasn’t.

I hate you, Gideon Sharpe. I hate you so much, it hurts. And if you don’t open this door, I’ll go on hating you forever …

But she knew the fear of not having him now, and she suddenly wanted all of him. Body and soul. It was a dangerous feeling. One that could cost her everything.

She was drowning, and he was air. She hadn’t even realized how much she needed him until he was gone.

I’m in love with him. Instead of getting Gideon Sharpe out of her system tonight, Rune had gone and gotten herself addicted. The hunted had fallen for the hunter.

Rune had to remind herself, every time, that they were mortal enemies. That their hatred for each other was what wove them together—not love or affection. And this was why it felt so wrong to have an ocean between them: the Blood Guard captain had been hunting the Crimson Moth for so long, she felt lost without him trailing her.