Save Them (The Broken Souls Series Book 2) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Trigger Warnings

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  More Books By

  About The Author

  Acknowledgments

  Save Them

  The Broken Souls Series

  Book Two

  S.A. Mackenzie

  Copyright © 2021 by S.A. Mackenzie

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious.

  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead,

  is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Printing, 2021

  Cover Design by DAZED Designs

  Trigger Warnings

  Please note that this book contains mentions of abuse, sexual abuse, and abuse of a minor. It also contains themes of stalking, kidnapping, murder, violence against women, and slight mentions of gore. There are also mentions of suicide, mental health struggles, and death. These themes may be triggering to some, proceed with caution if you have any of the above triggers. I have tried to cover all of my bases here, if you find something else triggering in this novel, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me so I can add it in this warning. This book is intended for audiences over the age of 18 as there is coarse language and explicit details.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter One

  Riggs

  This is not where I thought our night would end up. Being with Alayna tonight was one of the greatest moments of my life. We watched a movie under the stars, tucked away in our own little oasis. The chemistry was out of this world, our hands barely able to stay off of each other. Alayna even confessed she wanted more, she wanted to take the plunge with the three of us. It was fucking magical and a night I thought for sure would never be outdone.

  There’s always another shoe to drop though, and did it fucking ever. Dead bodies, a fucking killer stalking Alayna, and then Rhys delivered the final blow by uttering that name. Kevin Jennings, the man who destroyed both Declan and Alayna. If I thought Alayna was pale from finding a dead body in her bed, I was wrong. The last of all the colour drained from her face the moment that name came out of his mouth.

  “He’s supposed to be dead,” she murmurs, hugging her arms around her body. She repeats it over and over again, the words almost a mantra in the wind.

  Alayna is so unbelievably strong, but this is breaking her so completely. All we can do is stand by while she attempts to pull herself together, her body language telling us she needs the space. My arms twitch with the need to hold her and protect her. This is a living nightmare, and the woman I’m coming to care deeply for is caught right in the fucking middle of it.

  An incessant buzz starts from Lay’s pocket, all of our gazes moving towards the sound almost on instinct. The lights and sounds of the emergency vehicles around us are drowned out as we watch Lay pick up her phone. Moving to surround her once again, I clench my fists at my side as she swipes to answer the call. Turning up the volume, she holds the phone between us, the sound of his voicing stirring the rage inside of me.

  “Hello, Alayna.” The creep practically purrs her name, his obsession clear in his voice even with the distortion he’s using. “I’ve missed you so very much. Tell me, do you find the smell of lavender and decay as arousing as I do?”

  His laughter carries over the phone, the sound sending all of us into a frantic storm of anger and disgust. Rhys catches the phone just as Lay releases it, her hand going limp just before her whole body collapses.

  “Alayna!” Adam shouts frantically, his arms flying out to catch her before she falls. Her eyes roll back in her head, the stress and fear causing her to shut down completely.

  “Help!” I yell out, gesturing for the paramedics and police. “We need help over here.”

  Adam sits on the ground, holding Lay in his arms like she’s the most precious possession. His eyes are glistening with unshed tears, his hands stroking her long black hair. A paramedic rushes over as his partner grabs the stretcher. Standing out of the way as best I can, I breathe deeply, doing what I can to not lose it.

  “Wake up, Beautiful.” Adam’s voice cracks, the sound bringing my own tears to the surface that I am desperately trying to hold at bay. “Please, wake up.”

  Rhys is gesturing animatedly with police, his voice raising as he shoves Lay’s phone into their gloved hands. The paramedics are moving Alayna from Adam’s arms, the oxygen mask over her face making my heart stop with fear. Rhys runs back over, pushing his long, messy blonde hair out of his face and standing beside me with a determined scowl.

  “Can you three please back up and give us a little space to work?” The one paramedic gestures to the side of the lawn, a frustrated look on his face. “We know you’re worried, but we need to do our jobs and that means we need space.”

  Rhys helps Adam up, all of us taking a few steps back even though it feels like it’s tearing my heart out to do it. They need to help Lay though and that means we need to stay back.

  “Her blood pressure is seventy over forty,” the female paramedic states to her partner, her eyes darting between her various machines she’s pulled out. “Heart rate is forty eight beats per minute. It’s low, but holding steady.”

  The male paramedic nods at us, his eyes bouncing between the three of us. “Are any of you coming with us? If so, we’ll grab more information on the way to the hospital.”

  “I’ll come,” I volunteer quickly, beating the other two by mere seconds. Looking at Rhys and Adam, I remind them of what they can do while I’m with our girl. “I’ll call you guys when we reach the hospital, that way you can figure things out with the police and find us a new place to stay.”

  “I’ll go speak with Jarrod. He just showed up,” Rhys mumbles, his scary, stoic face on. “Adam, can you find us somewhere safe, but relatively affordable, to
stay for upwards of a few weeks?”

  Walking away from those two, I follow closely behind the stretcher that holds my entire future. My heart is beating so fast as I climb into the ambulance, the smell of antiseptics stinging my nose, bringing back memories of another time. This isn’t Hannah, and Lay is going to be okay. I won’t be losing anyone else that I love, especially not the one I just found.

  Holding one of Lay’s hands in my own, I look at the man sitting across from me with an expectant look on his face. Shit! He must have been talking to me while I was trying not to freak the fuck out.

  “Sorry, can you repeat that?” I ask, my voice low and gravelly from the emotion clogging my throat.

  “What’s her full name and age?” He looks at me expectantly, his pen balanced on his page.

  “Alayna Morgan and twenty eight,” I murmur, squeezing her hand in my own to remind myself that she’s still here.

  “Can you give me a bit more information about what happened so I can radio the hospital with it? Is she diabetic? Any conditions they need to be aware of?” He speaks slowly, maintaining eye contact the entire time.

  “She’s not diabetic, and as far as I’m aware, she doesn’t have any major health problems. She does suffer from c-PTSD and depression. She’s in therapy and taking medication for it.” I run through my mind, making sure there isn’t anything I could have missed her say about health conditions. “She had a traumatic phone call after an equally traumatic night, that’s the gist of what happened.”

  “Alright. Do you know the name of the medication she’s taking?” he asks in between relaying the information to the hospital.

  “No, I’m sorry. I’ll get one of the others to bring it to the hospital with them for the doctors.”

  Nodding his head, he gives me a weak smile before turning away from me. With a small sigh of relief, I thank whatever powers to be that exist, that the questions are over. Looking down at Alayna, I brush some of her black hair away from her face, my eyes filling with tears that can’t be held back. Seeing her like this, so lifeless and pale, makes my chest tight with fear.

  This shouldn’t be happening to Lay, she’s been through enough. She has barely started telling us everything that’s happened to her, only a few details here and there, but from speaking with Declan about his life, I know enough. Our beautiful warrior deserves to finally be able to live her life without any of this fear and pain.

  The need to protect her overwhelms me, every part of me taut with stress over how exactly I can do that. Every time I think I can keep her safe, this fucker stalking her shows us he’s still ten steps ahead of us. We only just found out his name, and he’s been out violating Lay’s things and straight up murdering women. I’m not equipped to protect her from this, and it’s fucking gutting me.

  Pulling up to the hospital, my adrenaline kicks into overdrive, and my hand squeezes Lay’s protectively. The moment the ambulance stops, I jump out to get out of the way as quickly as possible. A nurse comes up, directing me away from the ambulance and inside to a private waiting room. She leaves me there, telling me a doctor will be in to speak with me shortly.

  The moment she leaves, my body deflates, and my eyes fill up with tears at the situation we’re in. Dropping my head into my hands, I let out all of my worry, fear, anger, and frustration. This world is so fucked up, I’ve known that for a while, but for it to touch my life and loved ones the way it is — it’s almost too much to handle. Almost. For Alayna, I can’t imagine there would ever be anything that was too much.

  Making sure I let the guys know we’re at the hospital and where to find me, I sit back and get as comfortable as I can to wait for the doctor. The chairs are a hard metal with a slippery fake leather cushion that feels akin to sitting on a rock. They’re an awful mint green colour and obviously made for people with a much smaller frame than my own. At six foot six and close to three hundred pounds, most things aren’t made for people my size.

  Squirming in my seat, I breathe in the scents of the hospital around me, every distinct hospital smell putting me more and more on edge. It’s taking everything in me to keep sitting here and not get up to find some way to help. It’s hard to sit around in this doing absolutely nothing while the woman I’m falling for is god knows where in this hospital. I don’t know how she is, if she’s safe, anything.

  Lay shouldn’t be in somewhere in this hospital all by herself! There’s someone after her, literally killing people to get her attention. It was stupid of me to walk away from her, I should have demanded to stay by her side. Why the fuck didn’t we have a police escort when someone is out to get her?

  Standing up abruptly, I bang the chair against the wall loudly in my haste. My heart rate jumps at the sound, my teeth clenching together with anxiety. Pacing the room from one end to the other, I run through how to find Lay, how to make sure she’s okay. Waiting for the doctor is taking every single ounce of my patience, all while my hands drag through my hair aggressively.

  Stopping in the middle of the room, I observe the doctors and nurses rushing past the glass door. All I have to do is walk out there and demand someone tell me where she is. The doctor is taking far too long to get here which probably means something is very, very wrong. Lay needs me, I know she does. I’m standing in this stupid fucking room with the stupid fucking hard chairs, away from her, my girl.

  Not for fucking long.

  My foot moves one step before a nurse walks into the room, Rhys and Adam right on her heels.

  “Just in here,” the nurse announces, smiling at the three of us. “The doctor will be in shortly to speak with you all.”

  “That’s what the last nurse said, and I still haven’t seen a fucking doctor,” I growl out, my hands clenching at my side. “When will the doctor actually get their ass in here?”

  “Riggs,” Rhys speaks, his voice holding a note of concern. Turning back to the nurse, he smiles placatingly and apologetically. “I’m sorry, it’s a stressful time. Thank you for showing us here. We’ll wait for the doctor.”

  Adam places his hand on my shoulder, his eyebrows raised in concern as he takes in my appearance. The nurse walks out quietly, not acknowledging a damn thing I said. Rhys turns back to me, his face confused and concerned.

  “What was all that about?” He cautiously approaches me, my eyes tracking his every move as an intense, rage-fuelled panic fills me to the brim.

  “Lay is out there in that hospital all alone while a fucking psychopath is after her. The doctor should have fucking been in here by now!” My whole body shakes with my anger, the fury I feel for the fucker going after Lay is fuelling a deep fire in me. “That’s our fucking girl out there! I need to—” My voice breaks, the full dam of my emotions breaking open. “I need to protect her.”

  “We will protect her,” Rhys murmurs, pulling me into a hug as Adam pats my back. “She is safe right now. We want to make sure she’s okay, passing out like she did can be dangerous. Being in the room would mean we’re only in the way.”

  “There’s no way that this asshole is going to get to our girl with us here plus, the cops that followed us. I know you have this intense need to protect everyone since Hannah’s death,” Adam says, sitting in one of the hard chairs and winces. “But we’re all here and we’re ready to protect Lay. You do not need to protect everyone on your own.”

  Nodding my head, I step back and take some deep, slow breaths to calm myself down. Losing my shit is not going to help anything, I need a clear head on my shoulders. They’re right, I don’t need to do this alone. The three of us are here to help her, our girl. When I look up at the two of them, they smile at the rage they see missing on my face.

  The door opens again, this time a woman in scrubs and a white coat walks in, a small smile on her face. “Are you the friends and family of Alayna Morgan?” Looking down at her clipboard and back up, “Riggs, Rhys, and Adam?”

  “We are,” I confirm, stepping forward eagerly with Adam and Rhys by my side. My heart is beating
so fast, hope soaring through me at the mention of our names. That can only mean one thing…

  “Perfect! If you would like to come with me, she’s awake and asking for you.”

  Holy fuck, she’s awake.

  Those words repeat in my head over and over again as the world blurs around me. Thank every fucking god known to man that Lay is awake. Not only is she awake, she’s asking for us. That means she’s trusting us, leaning on us, and wanting us. That’s a gift that I will never take for granted. I will spend every day proving to her that I am worthy of it.

  Chapter Two

  Alayna

  Blinking my eyes open slowly, the bright lights around me sting my eyes. There’s voices and beeping coming from everywhere, making the pounding in my head hurt so much worse. Taking in the stuff around me, the realization of where I am slowly sinks in, and with that, everything that happened tonight. A hospital, I’m in a fucking hospital because I’m being stalked by a psychotic man. Lifting up my hands, I sigh with relief to see I’m not bound, which probably means I’m not in the psych ward.

  “Ms. Morgan, you’ve given everyone quite the scare.” A female voice comes from my side, pressing cold hands to my head. “I’m Dr. Corbin. Are you able to tell me what year it is?”

  “The year is two thousand nineteen,” I murmur, wincing at the pain in my head.

  We go through more basic questions as she checks my reflexes and reactions. After all of the tests say I’m fine, she asks more questions about tonight to get a better idea of what happened. Dr. Corbin steps away for a moment, ordering some tests with the nurses before stepping back and asking if there’s anything else I need right now.

  “A-are there three men waiting for me? Riggs, Rhys, and Adam?” I ask hesitantly, chewing my lip with uncertainty.

  What if they didn't come? What if they felt that the shit falling all around me is just too much?