Jim Gem's Arc

Chapter 3 of 23

Jim reached Mosswood at dusk, boots heavy from the long walk back. He had climbed three shapes in the eastern woods without collapsing. Now he needed a hidden place to build the rest of the ladder, and one person he trusted to guard it. He pushed open the tavern door and stepped into warm lamplight and the smell of smoke and ale. Ten years had passed since he last stood here looking for Lena. He did not know if she would even remember him. A half-cat woman blocked his path before he reached the bar. Her amber tail flicked once, slow. Curly red hair framed sharp green eyes that took his measure in a breath. This was Ire, who ran the place, and Jim knew her by reputation. She looked relaxed. She was not. "You've got the look of a man who wants something," Ire said. Her voice teased, but her eyes did not. "So say it fast." "I'm looking for Lena," Jim said. "We were friends, a long time ago." Ire tilted her head. "A long time ago," she repeated. "Funny. She's never mentioned a purple-eyed ranger." She stepped closer. The room seemed to shrink around her. "Lena works here now. She's mine to look after. Strangers don't just walk up and see her." Behind the bar, a broad-shouldered man wiped a mug and watched. Kael, Jim guessed, the one who could calm Ire when nothing else could. He said nothing. He let her handle it. "I'm not a stranger to her," Jim said. "Ask her about the day something cornered her in the field. Ask her what came to help." Ire went still. Her tail stopped moving. She studied him longer this time, and something behind her eyes shifted from threat to question. "Wait here," she said. "Move from that spot and Kael throws you out the loft window." She climbed the stairs to the loft two at a time. Jim waited. His heart knocked against his ribs. Kael filled a cup and slid it toward him without a word. Jim did not drink it. Footsteps came back down. Ire descended first, her face unreadable. Then a woman appeared at the top of the stairs. Lena. Older now, lean in a faded trapeze costume, her hands gripping the rail. She looked down at him and stopped breathing for a moment. "Jim," she said. He nodded. He could not find words. Lena came down slowly. She stopped a step away and searched his face, the purple eyes, the cracked stones at his throat. She did not smile yet. But she did not turn back. "You found me," she said quietly. "I need your help," Jim said. "There's something I can finally do. But I need a place to hide while I learn it. And someone who won't run." Lena looked at Ire, then back at him. "Then you'd better come up," she said. "And tell me everything you've been doing for ten years."