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A contented purr rumbles in my chest. I love how comfortable she is with this side of me and hope that someday soon she'll feel equally at ease with my human form.

Rapunzel reaches for her satchel, pulling out her sketchbook. She was very protective of this when I found it on her bookshelf, but now she holds it out for me to see. She flips to the drawing of the couple the pixie queen pointed out and traces her fingers over the image.

“I think these are my parents,” she murmurs. Turning through the pages, she shows me sketches of palatial gardens, a sitting room with a roaring fire on the hearth, a street lined with shops and carts full of freshly cut bouquets of flowers, and a library full of books and scrolled parchments. “All of these are from my dreams,” she explains. “I think these are my memories, Ren.”

She turns another page and my heart stops when I see a sketch of my eyes—golden amber with vertically-slit pupils, surrounded by shadows.

“Except for these,” she murmurs, flipping the pages to reveal several more just like it. “I’ve dreamed of your eyes for the past three months. I didn’t realize then that I was seeing my future.” Her small brow furrows as she stares down at the image. “And now I wonder how many of my dreams are memories and which ones might be visions.”

“I dreamed of the tower before I found you,”I admit.“At the time, I wasn’t sure what it meant. But then a seer told me it was destiny—my fate to find it.”

“Why?”

Indecision wars within me. I could lie to her and say I don’t know. Or I could tell the truth—that she is my fated one. I open my mouth, but the words lodge in my throat. I’m worried that she’ll reject me.

Her kind do not normally have fated mates. Besides that, I am scarred. No female Fox will have me because of the jagged mark on the right side of my face. And even though Rapunzel is human, I worry that once she understands how such things are looked down upon among my people, she may decide she does not want me as well.

I like to think of myself as brave, but when I think of all the rejection I’ve faced because of my scar, my bravery fails me.“I’m not sure.”The lie is bitter on my tongue as I choose the path of less pain.“But I am glad that my dreams helped me to find you.”

A crimson flush colors her cheeks. “I am too.”

She flips another page, and my breath catches when I see a drawing of a young man’s face. Jealousy stirs deep within, and I bite back a growl. “Who is this?”

She bites her lip thoughtfully. “I believe he’s a family member. In my dreams, we’re always laughing together, but I don’t know at what.” She sighs. “I wish I could remember more detail. He feels close, important, but not in a romantic sense.”

Relief fills me as I note the familiarity in their features. He has the same silver-white hair and blue eyes. Perhaps he’s her brother or possibly a cousin. Even so, I cannot help but ask, “Are there others in your dreams who you feel might have been... important to you?”

Immediately, I regret the question as she turns to a new page, revealing a handsome man with shoulder-length, black hair with silver tips, and piercing blue eyes. He reaches desperately toward her, his face etched with panic.

“I feel like he’s important to me, but I’m not sure how. I’ve dreamed of him many times,” she explains. “When I do, he’s always reaching for me. As if he’s afraid I’ll fall or be taken from him.” My ears prick up as she continues. “Maybe this is a memory of when Drusilla took me. Maybe he tried to stop her.”

I study the male’s image more carefully, noting every detail. Her explanation is plausible, but I worry that there may be more to it than this.

Her memories consist of fragmented dreams, and I worry that her heart may have already been claimed by another. And if it has… I wonder if I will have the strength to let her go.

“At least now I know,” she says, interrupting my dark musings.

“Know what?”

“That these dreams are real. They're memories.” Vulnerable hope shines in her eyes as they meet mine. “For so long, I believed my family was dead. But now I know they’re alive. They’re still out there, looking for me, Ren.”

She looks down at her sketchbook again, blinking back tears. “But what if I never remember fully? What if I cannot find them?”

I nuzzle her temple and whisper in her mind.“Do not lose hope, Rapunzel. The Pixie Queen said you were already starting to remember.”I jerk my chin toward her drawings.“These prove that not all of your memories are lost. The answers are out here, somewhere. We just need to find them.”

She nods. “I just feel so lost.”

“You’re not lost.”I meet her gaze evenly.“You have been found. And I will remain by your side for as long as you wish. You’re not alone.”

“Thank you,” she whispers. “But I worry that I’ll be a burden to you.”

“You are no such thing,”I reassure her.

“But I—I don’t even know where to start,” she says. “Where will we go?”

“To Cambryn,”I tell her.“To my home. The capital city—Valmere—is a hive of trade and commerce. Perhaps we can findsomeone who recognizes something from your sketches to help us figure out where you’re from.”

She smiles, but it falls away. “What about your family? Will they be all right with you bringing me to your home?”