AT THE SAME TIME
ADRIAN'S POINT OF VIEW:
The portal didn't fade. It widened. The glowing red shimmer trembled like a heartbeat, light pulsing off the trees, off our faces. It wasn't just magic anymore, something inside it had shape. A figure. No… two. Xavier tensed beside me, his breathing turned ragged. Then a whisper. Barely a word.
"Mom?"Xavier whispered.
We all froze.
"What?" I turned toward him, my own heart stalling.
"No, no way." Selene muttered. "The portal only opens one way-"
"Mom?" Xavier's voice cracked like something in him had broken loose.
Everyone turned as two fully formed humans stepped into view through the shifting veil. A woman with tear-bright eyes and shaking hands. A man with a stunned, pale face and a voice shouting a name we couldn't quite hear.
"Xavier!" The woman gasped, pressing her hands to the inside of the portal like it was glass.