Chapter 3

Martin stood at the small window, gazing out of it. “She’ll come for me,” he whispered. “She has to.”

Nate was beginning to wonder if Croft had really lost it this time. “Martin, you okay?” he asked, staring at the older man.

Martin nodded and coughed loudly. “Just thinking out loud, kid. I’m not crazy or anything. Well, not too much.”

Nate grinned and sat on the bottom bunk. “I hear you, Martin.”

“Hey, keep it down in there, you freaks!” the guard yelled.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, man!” Martin yelled back. “Can’t a prisoner plan a breakout in peace?”

“Real funny, Croft! Keep talking and I’ll kill you myself!”

Nate tugged at his collar and muttered a curse. “If I still had my powers, I’d shut him up real good.”

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Martin assured him. “We won’t be in here too much longer.”

A few hours later, Martin’s words rang true. When the lights went out around midnight, chaos broke out. The prisoners hammered at their cells, trying to spook the guards. Needless to say, in a dark prison, surrounded by a bunch of murderous thugs, it worked perfectly. Nate and Martin’s guard made the mistake of backing up against the cell. Within seconds, he was lying on the floor, a pool of blood developing under his head.

“He’ll live, if he keeps enough blood in,” Martin assured Nate. Though in his mind, Martin thought it was pretty ironic that an accused murderer would be against killing. His thoughts were interrupted by a slight thump against the wall. Seconds later, an explosion blew in the wall. Martin and Nate barely had time to duck. “Shoot, she’s early!” Martin shouted, gathering a few personal items.

Nate shook his head, trying to get rid of the stars. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Uncle Martin!” a voice shouted into the darkness.

“She’s here!” Martin said with that partially toothless grin of his. Picking up the rest of his belongings, he turned to see a young woman with a long reddish-brown ponytail streaming down her back.

“Ready to go, Uncle Martin?” she asked with a smile.

“Of course, Lara,” he said, hugging her, “I knew you’d come.” Martin tossed his items into some kind of hover car just outside the wall.

Lara turned to Nate, who was still sitting on the bunk. “You coming, kid?”

Nate sighed and shook his head. “I can’t.”

She stared at him for a while and shrugged. “Seeya around, kid,” she said, diving out of the hole after her uncle. There was silence for a few seconds. Nate got up and looked at the guard, still lying motionless outside the cell.

“Hey, Grey!” a voice shouted. Nate slowly turned to see Lara pointing a gun at him. “Merry Christmas,” she said as she pulled the trigger. In a split second, the heavy iron collar around his neck fell to the ground. “Good luck, Nate,” she said, blowing a kiss. Nate could only grin like an idiot as the hover craft zoomed into the night.

Ariel sighed and looked around the bedroom. It had been nearly a week since that moment in the garden, and still no message from her husband. In an attempt to improve trade relations with a nearby kingdom, he had personally gone to oversee the process. Though the two kingdoms had never clashed, anyone would be wise to suspect treachery from the rulers of the Darkness Realm.

“I just wish he’d come home,” she said quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Dry your tears, my Queen,” a dull voice said. Ariel looked up to see Jackie, one of her oldest friends, standing over her. “Your husband will return when the business is complete.”

Ariel wrapped her arms around him and sniffled. “I miss him, Jackie. I miss him so much.”

Jackie smiled and patted her head. “You worry too much, Ariel. He’ll be back soon.”

The security cameras hadn’t spotted him yet, so that gave him about four more minutes until he had to move again. But the boy was hardly worried about getting caught. Xavier and his charges were too involved in other matters to give him a second thought.

A chilly breeze blew through the trees, and the boy shivered. “Cold out tonight,” he muttered, rubbing his arms. Then, in a single bound, he was back on the ground, crawling among the bushes. One room downstairs seemed deserted, so he cautiously approached the window, casting a backward glance at the sensors behind him. The window gave way easily, and he smiled, wondering if the X-Men were as stupid as they appeared to be.