Rune arrives at Gideon Sharpe’s apartment telling herself the night is a calculated move: as the Crimson Moth, she needs a steady source of Blood Guard intelligence, and winning Gideon’s trust would help bury his suspicions that she is a witch. She frames her attraction as strategy, because admitting how much she wants a life where neither of them is enemy to the other feels too dangerous.

Inside, Rune studies Gideon’s sparse rooms with an unexpected urge to memorize him, as if his belongings could reveal who he is when he is not hunting witches. Gideon leads her into his bedroom and checks in repeatedly, asking her to promise she will speak up if she changes her mind; Rune insists she won’t and urges him to stop talking.

They undress and sleep together, with Gideon focused on Rune’s comfort and consent and Rune giving herself over to the intensity she has been fighting. The experience overwhelms her, dissolving her usual control and making her feel as if something essential has shifted between them.

Afterward, Rune tells Gideon she didn’t know it could feel so powerful, like two souls fusing into one, and Gideon responds with a rare grin that leaves her wanting to see him like that again. Later, Gideon falls asleep holding her, but Rune lies awake, shaken by the truth she can no longer deny: she is in love with him, and the hunted has fallen for the hunter.