When Legends Cross

1.2 • Impossible

My room had one window, directly opposite the door. When I unlatched it, it swung open cleanly, letting me look down at a dimly-lit alley. I was on the side of the building opposite the main street. Perfect.

The inn was constructed of well-placed, sturdy wood, most likely brought down from the mountains. It was an ideal surface to climb down, and it took me less than a minute to make it to the ground. From there, I headed back the direction Wyatt and I had come, moving parallel to the main street. I wasn't the stealthiest member of the Starwatch's crew, but I could at least move quietly enough to be unnoticed by the occasional casual onlooker.

As the Starwatch's scouts had promised, Hashton's jail was just off of a side road near the back of town. It was a large building, and not all of it was cell space; rumors said Sheriff Carter's living quarters were in there, just so he could keep watch. If you asked me, he took his job a little too seriously.

There was only one door to the building, and an unfamiliar man was standing outside it. He was impressively tall and broad-shouldered, and in addition to the gun at his belt, there was a thick chunk of wood resting against the wall behind him. I could guess what that was for.

There was no good way to sneak up on the man, and I didn't stand a chance fighting him. So I shrugged to myself and jogged forward in plain sight.

The gun was in his hand in a moment. "Stop right there."

I cringed at the volume of his voice; Sheriff Carter was probably somewhere in that building, and I didn't know how sound-insulated it was. "Wyatt sent me, Sir," I said, skidding to a stop.

He frowned, twisting to glance at the building behind him.

I paused. I'd been about to say that Wyatt needed his help at the inn, but that movement told me Wyatt might be inside this building. "He had a question for the guard at the back entrance of town, but didn't have time to ask it himself," I said cautiously. "Told me to give him the answer in here."

"Oh, I see." He turned to open the door for me.

I stared, a little incredulous. After how hard it had been to convince Wyatt, this guy seemed laughably gullible. Before he noticed my hesitation, I said, "Thanks," and hurried into the building.

A voice drifted through the still air, and I froze, straining to hear a direction. It seemed to be coming from one of the doors further down the hallway, and when I tilted my head, I thought it was most likely coming from the right. There was no light coming from the door directly to my right, so I opened it as silently as possible and slipped inside. A quick glance around showed a cleanly organized room with cabinets lining the walls and a desk in the center. I didn't have time to look through them. Instead, I went to the wall that I hoped bordered the conversation, squeezed between two cabinets, and pressed my ear to the wood.

"-want to talk with him again in the morning before we send him back." That was Wyatt's voice. "See if we can get anything else out of him."

"You think he's in on whatever they're planning?" an unfamiliar voice responded—that had to be Sheriff Carter himself. I'd imagined his voice to be gruff, but it was surprisingly warm despite the wary tone.

"My best guess is no. Poor kid just wanted into town for the night." Wyatt chuckled. "But I'd like to know who exactly he got his information from, and whether they work for the Mayor..."

"To know if the people plotting against us are the same ones who sent the warning," the Sheriff finished.

Wyatt hummed uncertainly. "I dunno. That wasn't what I was going to say."

"What, then?"

"I think it's possible that someone there is working against their Mayor. She could be trying to help us while their Sheriff is secretly taking advantage of us."