Over the next week, Raven kept following Aaron but she spent less time planning attacks and more time just watching him.

She told herself it was to find his weaknesses but deep down she knew that wasn't true.

She watched him settle disputes between merchants in the market and he listened to both sides before making fair judgments.

She watched him visit the orphanage and play with the children and give them gold from his own funds.

She watched him comfort a widow who had lost her husband in a recent battle and promise to take care of her family.

Everything she saw went against what she knew about him and it made her head spin. How could the man who helped kill her family be the same man who spent his afternoons reading to sick children at the healer's ward?

How could someone so kind have done something so cruel?

It didn't make sense and the more she watched him, the more her certainty started to crack.

She found herself questioning everything she thought she knew and every time she prepared to strike, she stopped because the image of him laughing with orphaned children or helping an elderly woman carry her groceries kept coming back to her mind.

This was supposed to be simple. He was supposed to be a monster.

Monsters were easy to kill because there was no guilt and no hesitation. But Aaron wasn't a monster and that was tearing her apart.

One afternoon she followed him to the eastern district where the poorest families lived and she watched from a rooftop as he gave food and medicine to families who couldn't afford it.

He knew their names and he asked about their children. He listened when they talked about their problems and he promised to do better for them.

Raven's chest got tight as she watched him crouch down to talk to a little girl who reminded her of herself at that age.

The girl showed him a wooden doll and Aaron looked at it and praised her work. Raven watched as the girl smiled brightly.

He reached into his pocket and gave her a gold coin and told her to buy paints so she could decorate the doll. She watched the girl hug him before running back to her mother.

This was the man she was supposed to kill. This was the man she had sworn to destroy. But watching him now, she couldn't connect this version of Aaron with the boy she saw that night.

They seemed like two different people and she didn't know which one was real.

Maybe they both were. Maybe people were more complicated than she wanted to believe. Maybe he had changed since that night.

Or maybe he had always been good and something else had happened that night that she didn't understand.

The thought made her uncomfortable because it meant she might be wrong and if she was wrong about this, then what else was she wrong about?

She kept watching him for the rest of the day and by the time the sun started to set, she still hadn't found a single reason to hate him beyond what happened ten years ago.

Every interaction she saw only showed her a man who cared about his people and wanted to make their lives better. A man who ruled with kindness instead of fear.

But she couldn't let him live. Could she? Her family deserved justice and she had made a promise to get revenge.

She couldn't just give up on that promise because the man turned out to be kind and her mate.

Raven climbed down from the rooftop and walked through the streets with her mind racing.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Aaron until she nearly walked right into him.

"Careful," Aaron said, catching her arm to steady her.

Raven looked up to find those damn eyes staring down at her.

"What are you doing here?" Raven asked, taking a step back.

"I could ask you the same thing," Aaron said with that smile again. "Are you following me again?"

"No," Raven lied, crossing her arms. "I was just passing through."

"Right," Aaron clearly didn't believe her but he didn't push it.

"Well since we're both here, would you like to walk with me? I'm heading back to the palace and it's getting dark. These streets aren't safe for a woman alone."

Raven almost laughed because she was probably the most dangerous thing in these streets, but she found herself nodding anyway.

"Fine," She said. "But only because we're going the same direction."

They walked without talking for a while and Raven was aware of how close he was and how easy it would be to slip a blade between his ribs right now.

But she didn't. She just walked beside him and tried to ignore the way her heart raced every time their hands accidentally touched.

"Can I ask you something?" Aaron said after a while.

"You can ask," Raven said. "Doesn't mean I'll answer."

"Why do you keep trying to kill me if you know you're going to fail?"

Raven stopped walking and turned to look at him.

"What makes you think I'm going to fail?"

"Because you've tried six times now and I'm still alive," Aaron said, spreading his hands wide with exasperation. "Either you're not as good as you think you are or you don't really want me dead."

"You're wrong," Raven said but her voice didn't sound sure. "I want you dead."

"Then prove it," Aaron said, stepping closer, his mismatched eyes glowing with something unreadable.

"Kill me right now. We're alone and no one would see. You could do it and be gone before anyone found my body."

Raven's hand moved to the dagger at her hip and she pulled it out, pressing the tip against his chest right over his heart.

Aaron didn't move, He didn't look away. He only stared at her.

"Do it," He said quietly. "If you really want me dead, then do it."

Raven's hand shook as she pressed the blade harder. She could feel his heartbeat through the metal.

All she had to do was push and it would be over and she would have her revenge.

But she couldn't. Her hand wouldn't move and her body wouldn't cooperate. She just stood there staring at him with tears in her eyes.

"I can't," She whispered, lowering the dagger. "I don't understand why but I can't."

Aaron's hand came up and touched her cheek, his thumb brushed away a tear she didn't know had fallen.

"Maybe because you know I'm not the monster you think I am," He said, sympathy dancing in the pools of his eyes.

"But you were there," Raven insisted, her voice breaking. "That night when I was a child. You were there and you helped them. I saw you."

Aaron raised a confused brow. "What night? What are you talking about?"

Before Raven could answer, a woman screamed from somewhere nearby and both of them turned toward the sound .

When they looked at the market square, they saw flames.