Page 73 of Delightfully Charmed

I gasped for air, my heart racing as it was perfectly formed in my chest.

Casper held the sword dripping with my blood. "What the fuck..."

Jasper held me in his arms with tears streaming down his face. "Why would you do that?"

"I love all of you, but I needed to die to access the power." My voice boomed around the hall.

Matthieu grinned evilly. "Finally, you're making choices that I would."

"I willnevermake the choices you would!" I screamed as my elemental powers surged inside of me.

My wind power caressed my body up and placed me on my feet as I raised my hand silently, invoking the powers of fire, water, earth, air, and spirit.

Flames erupted around Matthieu, and I pushed the guys to the edges of the room as fire formed a battlefield.

I loved them, but this wasmyfight.

The air sweltered with intense heat while droplets of water materialized in the air, swirling around me. I conjured rocks, forming a protective barrier as a gust of wind howled, carrying my power through the air. My spirit vision remained on, and pure power coursed through me.

The air buzzed with energy, and the scent of magic hung heavy.

"I'm much older than you, sweet mage. I've always been mad with full access to Hexarium. Are you sure you want to fight me?" He tilted his head, his form flickering and shifting while his eyes glowed a creepy yellow.

"I'm going to rip your tether from Hexarium and kill you myself!" My voice shook the walls of the palace as I conjured a scorching fireball toward Matthieu and threw it, but his body melted, transforming into a fox and evading my fiery projectile with an irritating grace.

He morphed into a bird, flying through the air above me.

I conjured a fierce gust of wind to disrupt his wings."Don't you dare run from me!"

He descended the air as a sleek panther, charging toward me with feline agility. His claws extended with intent to claw my face much like he did in that damned dungeon.

I summoned an earth barrier of solid rock to intercept his claws, and they scraped against the shield, leaving sparks of magic in their wake. Conjuring a torrential wave of water, I surged it toward him, breaking my earth wall and engulfing Matthieu.

As the water hit him, he transformed into a large fish, weaving effortlessly through the rushing waters.

My pulse raced, and my head was reeling as I stumbled back. I needed to, at thevery least,incapacitate him so we could get away.

The guys were screaming, but I couldn't make out anything they said.

I channeled the core of my spirit power and combined the other four elements in a cataclysmic fusion.

My flames roared, and Karma appeared with her eyes glowing an angry red. My water surged, and Cosmo growled with glowing blue eyes. My rocks shattered into sharp fragments, and Charm meowed loudly with furious green eyes illuminating. My winds howled, and Oz yowled in sync as his gray eyes pulsed with vengeance.

A maelstrom of spirit magic enveloped our battlefield as my phantom cats even lent me their power, consuming everything in its path.

Within the chaos, Matthieu transformed into an ethereal mist, and I could feel his mocking gaze on me.

My elemental onslaught passed through his spectral body, leaving everything except his spirit unscathed.

Matthieu's true form returned as he clutched his chest and dropped to his knees with his head down. "You are strong, Fawn. You always have been. That's why I chose you...but I'm stronger."

He pulled something from his robe, another vial, but instead of dosing us, he drank the contents in one gulp.

The guys were shouting at me to get away, but it all sounded like static as I watched Matthieu's bones twist and bend in a way I'd never seen before. Metamorphose mages could transform their vessels into other mages or even animals...butnevermonsters.

His entire body transformed into what looked like a cross between a dementid and a dragon.

Fear struck my heart, and I gasped for a breath as I realized what Matthieu had just done. He'd bent his affinity to do what was impossible.

If he could do that, what else could he do?

Silas jerked me out of the trance by grabbing my arm, and I turned to see that he had been badly burned by my flames."Muse, please!"

I threw my arms out to stop my elemental powers from raging. "I have enough magic built up to lend Casper power to light-jump us out of here!"

Matthieu's new, grotesque form roared, and the entire palace shook like it had never shaken before. Large pieces of the structure crumbled down with us in it.

"Casper!" I shouted and threw my palm out toward him, pushing all of my magical energy into his vessel and spirit.

Light enveloped us all just as Matthieu's monstrous form decimated the Revivium Empire's palace and all of those inside.