Free Two Times the Trouble by Mellanie Szereto

dropped to the messy floor. “You. Ivan. My family. I can’t risk you telling somebody.”
    “Who am I going to tell? We’ll be lucky to get out of here alive.” Too late, he caught that his volume had risen with his frustration.
    “How about including the guy who almost died in the conversation? You also could’ve told me a tornado hit while I was unconscious.” Ivan’s observation had Liam shaking his head.
    Giving up trying to exclude his brother from the discussion, he carried the food to Ivan. “We deserve the truth, Jolán.”
    She sighed and followed him, sitting cross-legged on the floor at his brother’s feet. “You want to know why I had sex with you and Ivan? Fine, I’ll tell you.”
    Liam sat, leaning against the wall as she glanced back and forth between him and Ivan.
    Her whole body trembled with a noisy inhale and exhale. “I want you both.”

Chapter 8
     
    I’m hallucinating. Ivan couldn’t come up with any other reason for Jolán saying she wanted him and Liam. He’d bashed his head on the concrete floor when he’d fallen, and he was in a coma having bizarre dreams. How did wanting them both put everyone in danger?
    A clap of thunder shook the ground, and the loose rubble tangled above most of the basement shifted. The momentary tensing of his muscles sent a stab of pain up his neck. “Damn it, Liam, I thought you said the forecast wasn’t calling for storms until Wednesday.”
    Jolán huddled farther into the corner. “This is a different kind of storm. He’s going to destroy us all.”
    Crowding into the shelter of the wall, his brother hovered over them. “He who? If I’m going to die, I at least want to know who’s trying to kill me.”
    She hesitated.
    Ivan pulled her onto his lap. “We need to know what we’re up against. Trust us, Jolán. Please.”
    The fear in her eyes warned him he wouldn’t like the truth. “He’s my family’s enemy—an ancient shifter with the power to manipulate nature. He made the ants swarm last night, and now he’s causing earthquakes and thunderstorms. Kazmer.”
    The last word came on a whisper so soft he almost didn’t hear it.
    “His name means ‘great destroyer’ in the old language.”
    This dream kept getting weirder and weirder. “Why is he trying to destroy your family?”
    Another rumble sent loose pieces of wood crashing to the floor. A low hum vibrated in Ivan’s ears as if a thousand voices repeated the same phrases over and over but never spoke in unison.
    Jolán relaxed against him and joined in the chorus of murmuring chants, the clarity of her rhyme sending a shiver up his spine.
     
    Gather the powers of the fold.
    Protect us all from evil old.
    Repel the darkness and seal the rift.
    Goodness and light shall stop the shift.
     
    With each line, a howling wind grew louder. The chanting dimmed until only her melodic song remained. At the end of the third refrain, she lifted her hands toward the sky and closed her eyes. Serenity radiated from her, flowing through him as he gazed at her angelic expression. Her lips curved upward into a half smile, and the worry lines on her forehead relaxed into smooth skin. A soft glow surrounded her face.
    The wailing suddenly faded to silence. Not eerie stillness. Soothing. Comforting.
    Liam sat back on his heels and shoved his hands through his hair. “I’m guessing that was the great destroyer. Any chance you can use a poem to get us out of here?”
    His brother’s calm tone didn’t fool Ivan for a second. The only things missing from the magic show were a wand and sparkles. Liam was a skeptic, and his beliefs—or disbelief —had been debunked in a big way. His mind had to have been blown wide open.
    She lowered her arms and melted into Ivan. “Safe. For now.”
    Her body became dead weight with the quiet declaration. When she slipped from his weakened hold, Liam scooped her up and settled on the floor next to him. She seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.
    Stray hairs from