Maximus vamped out first, energy drifting over his hair and down his body. Suddenly everything about him was changed, and yet he was also the same. It was hard to describe. His hair grew richer in color, his eyes black as a night sky, his skin glowing a tawny color. His fangs elongated as his body increased to even more massive proportions. He was spectacular. I could see Cardia licking her lips as she dragged lustful eyes over him, but along with her clear attraction, there was also dilation of pupils, paling of her skin, accelerated heartbeat. She was like the rest of us, fearing what this change might bring to her very recently discovered mate. I had the same fears churning inside of me, only times four, as I loved all of the Compasses.

Jacob was next. He called on the elements, and even here, inside a glass and metal building, they came to him. The most prominent was fire, definitely his specialty, whipping in burning arcs around his head and down his left arm. His right hand held a single ball of water, like a large dewdrop. Wind thrashed around his blond hair, and the scent of fresh dirt filled the room as earth responded beneath his feet. Green eyes burned as energy surrounded him and joy split across his face. The elements made him feel alive.

Tyson stepped up. He would be the least showy. Much of his power relied on spells and nature. Yet, as he spoke rhythmically, spell casting, chanting too low for me to hear, energy cascaded over him, a subtle glow, which like Maximus enhanced his already dangerously beautiful features. Grace drew forward now. I’d been mostly focused on my boys, so I hadn’t realized that the healer witch and vampiress had left the wall and were now just on the outside of the barrier, as if they had to move closer to the Compasses – the quads’ overabundance of life force drawing all of us like magnets.

Tyson and Maximus had predator eyes locked on their girls. Their energies filled the huge space, and I was starting to understand what everyone was worried about. Individually, the quads were so powerful. What the hell was going to happen when they fully joined with each other?

All coherent thought fled when it was Braxton’s turn. He would finish the quartet of energy. I knew he couldn’t shift into dragon, there wasn’t enough room in the dome. He dropped his head, light reflecting off his black hair, and then it hit me what he was going to do. I scooted further forward, not wanting to miss a single thing. This was something very few shifters had ever achieved.

A fusion shift.