Chapter Fifteen

Violet struggled to pull herself out of bed as her cell phone alarm went off. She swatted at it and knocked it to the floor in the process. Groaning, she moved to grab it.

And promptly found herself in a crumpled, useless heap on the floor.

Peyton appeared in the attached bathroom doorway, toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. He raced over to her and helped her to a sitting position. She fumbled under the bed for the phone, alarm still blaring, and finally managed to silence it.

“Well, that’s definitely one way ta start the day,” Peyton garbled around his toothbrush.

Violet grunted in response and tossed the phone onto the bed. She reached up and pulled herself into the wheelchair, Peyton hovering nearby in case he was needed. He wasn’t, so he kissed the top of her head and jogged back into the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth.

Violet wheeled herself over to the closet, painfully aware of the full state of her bladder. She grabbed a fresh change of clothes, fighting with the hangers overhead. By the time she had gotten her clothes picked out and neatly arranged on the bed, Peyton was done in the bathroom.

“All yours,” he said with a flourish, holding the door open.

Violet wheeled herself in and closed the door behind her. She struggled to get undressed. She struggled to pull herself over the toilet. She struggled to pull herself back into the chair and it was yet another struggle to pull herself onto the bathtub ledge. Finally, gracelessly, she landed naked in the tub. She stretched to reach the faucet handles and turned the water on.

And that was as far as she was able to get before she needed help. Sighing, she called out for Peyton—who she knew had his ear to the door, listening for the inevitable.

“Well now, that’s a lot farther than ya got yesterday,” Peyton cheerily said as he entered the small, cramped room, stepping over the wheelchair and reaching up for the shower head. “We’ll get this down to a science. Just watch.”

He handed it to her and tested the water temperature. Satisfied that she wasn’t going to inadvertently burn herself, he doublechecked to make sure all her toiletries and towel were in reach. With that done, he leaned down to kiss the top of her head and exited the room, flashing her a flirtatious smile as the door closed behind him.

She loved that about him. He didn’t fall all over himself trying to do everything for her the way Dezzy tried to do the past few days. He let her do whatever she could for herself and when she was stuck, he wouldn’t jump in until she asked. Peyton knew her.

Once she’d managed to get clean, she hauled herself to the edge of the tub, grabbed the towel Peyton had left on the seat of her wheelchair, and briskly set to drying herself off. She wrapped herself in the towel and clambered into the chair, then fought with the doorknob to get out.

Dezzy sat at the kitchen table drinking a smoothie and Peyton sat on one of the sofas in the living room with two cups of coffee on the table in front of him as Violet emerged.

“Mornin’ princess,” Dezzy called as Violet wheeled herself into the living room.

“Mornin’,” she croaked, reaching for the coffee.

She took an appreciative sip and smiled at Peyton, who returned the gesture.

“That’s different,” he said, indicating her hair.

Sif had taught her how to braid it like the women of Valhalla. She liked the braids. It kept her hair out of her face better than a simple ponytail.

“Good different or bad different?” Violet asked, patting the side of her head where she felt the braid might be too loose.

She adjusted the pins while Peyton watched, his eyes casting a gentle assessment.

“Good different,” he replied with a smile.

“You look like a Viking,” Dezzy said, joining them.

Peyton and Violet shared a glance and she surreptitiously shook her head. He nodded and picked up his phone.

“So, Thor is signing on as an alternate heavyweight today. Manny is excited,” Dezzy said, breaking the sudden silence as he scrolled through his phone.

“He plans on sticking around long enough to try for titles?” Violet asked.

Dezzy and Peyton both looked up, surprised at the question.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Desmond queried.

Inwardly, Violet facepalmed. God, you can be so stupid sometimes, she thought to herself.

“I dunno. I’m not awake yet,” Violet said, sipping her coffee.

“The bars working okay for you?” Dezzy asked, looking Violet over as if trying to find something he could fix.

“Yes, immensely. Thank you for setting all that up, Dezzy. And thank you for letting me stay here. I can’t even get to my place anymore,” Violet answered with genuine gratitude.

Dezzy, Peyton, and several of the Phenom fighters had spent the past few evenings installing hand bars, widening doorways, and generally making the place much more wheelchair friendly for her.

“You’d do the same for me,” he replied, smiling. “You about ready to go?”

“Yes,” she said, looking at Peyton.

Peyton chugged the rest of his coffee and took both their cups to the sink. Violet wheeled herself out the door while they locked up and grabbed their gym bags. She waited at Peyton’s truck and he lifted her in, taking the liberty of soundly kissing her before he loaded up her wheelchair and they left for the gym.

Violet’s stomach was a mess of butterflies and anxiety cramps as they pulled into the parking lot. She recognized the vehicles of several other gym members and cringed inwardly.

It was her first day back on the job and she mentally prepared herself for the worst. She didn’t want people to stare. Didn’t want the fake platitudes and shallow sympathy. The looks that said, “I’m so glad that’s not me”.

“Hey. You’re gonna be fine,” Peyton said as he parked the truck.

He reached over and grabbed her hand, feathering his lips across her knuckles. She nodded and offered him a smile.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered before exiting.

She waited as he unloaded her chair and opened her door. He helped her down into it and waited while she got herself situated comfortably. Once she was ready, he walked beside her as she wheeled herself toward the doors.

There was no one outside the gym as they entered which was odd—usually there were fighters working out in the parking lot. They worked on the rope stations or pushed around the big old tractor tires out there normally.

As they entered the Phenom camp’s station, Violet was struck once more by how quiet the place was. There were no clanking weights. No idle chatter. No heavy footfalls of runners on treadmills or the sounds of sparring. No ambient heavy metal music playing from the speakers. Just eerie silence.

She turned to Peyton as they reached the office section’s doors and was just about to remark about the odd stillness of the place—

“SURPRISE!”

A chorus of voices screamed in unison as Peyton pulled the door open.

There had to have been at least a hundred people crammed into the space and they all cheered when Violet rolled through the door. She stared back at the crowd in disbelief. Her desk had been decorated with streamers, several bouquets of flowers, and a big banner hung over it that said, “Welcome Back Vi!” She noticed that there were dozens of well wishes and signatures scrawled over the enormous banner in different colored ink.

Tears sprang to her eyes and she covered her mouth with both her hands. Peyton squeezed her shoulder and leaned down to kiss her cheek. Everyone rushed forward then, many of them bending down to hug her, all of them seemingly ecstatic to see her. She was shocked when even Thor and Sif hugged her, though they were quick to melt back into the crowd.

It wasn’t what she had expected. It was far better.

“Oh—oh you guys didn’t have to do all this,” Violet choked, allowing Dezzy to push her toward her desk.

“Taylor may have threatened all of our lives if we didn’t show up,” Gorski said from somewhere behind her.

Violet laughed along with several members of the crowd. As she arrived at her desk, she saw there were several pink boxes and she grinned.

“Hurry up and open the god damned donuts—we’re hungry!” one of the Intimidation Factor heavyweights called from the back of the crowd.

“Well get up here and get you some, then,” Violet called back, swiping at the happy tears that coursed down her face.

*****

“Okay, okay, okay, so—we need to do something about this,” Tay giggled, looking over Violet’s wheelchair.

It was nearly noon and Violet was exhausted. She’d been entertaining visitors to her little office all morning and while she appreciated it, she found herself drained by lunchtime.

“It’s a wheelchair, not a fashion accessory,” Violet quipped, swatting the little bronze pixie’s hands away as she checked the cushion upon which Violet sat.

“No. It’s about image. We need to re-imagine your image,” Tay corrected.

“For what? I don’t have an ‘image’ to worry about,” Violet retorted, doing air quotes around the word, “image”.

Taylor straightened, placed a small, perfectly manicured hand on her hip, and glared at her friend.

“Yes. You do. Everybody who’s anybody in the Vegas fight scene knows who you are,” Taylor snapped. “And as the Phenom head of PR, I’m telling you we need to fix this. Shabby chic is soooo not us.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I like shabby chic,” Violet clipped.

Taylor sighed resignedly and went back to assessing Violet’s appearance.

“I like the hair though. This works. Where did you learn this?” Taylor said, diving in to start playing with Violet’s hair.

“Tay—I’m not a toy. And you’re really taking advantage of the fact that I can’t run away,” Violet growled, swatting her hands away again.

She giggled and sat on Violet’s lap, cupping Violet’s face in her hands.

“You’re adorable and now I can get away with doting on you,” Taylor chirped, booping Violet’s nose with her index finger.

“Tay! Would you leave her alone already?” Manny’s voice called from across the office space.

“He’s not always going to be around to save you,” Taylor sing-songed as she hopped up and jogged out of Violet’s office.

Violet sighed, offering Manny a grateful smile, and went back to working on Gorski’s workout schedule. But the reprieve was extremely short-lived.

“How do you ever get anything done?” Sif’s voice startled Violet.

The frost fae sat in the chair across from Violet at the desk. She wore her hair in two long French braids and had a pink, glittery tee shirt and matching shorts on. She crossed her legs and sat back in the chair, dangling a glittery pink flip flop from her toe.

“What now?” Violet groused, glaring at the fae before returning to the spreadsheet.

“We’ve been here a week and you haven’t done anything about the soul blade.”

“I’m in a fucking wheelchair. What’s your excuse?” Violet returned fire.

“Yeah, about that—what the fuck?” Thor said, materializing in the doorway.

Violet nervously looked around and saw that the coast was clear for the moment. Manny had closed his office door after Taylor entered. The other office doors were closed, their occupants having left for lunch. Dezzy and Peyton were out on the ropes in the parking lot. Everyone else was either at a workout station or out of the building for the time being.

“Well, it turns out, when you take a soul blade to the spine on Earth, it means you can’t walk anymore,” Violet snarled. “Close that door.”

Thor closed the door, then hauled one of the heavy leather office chairs from the corner over to her desk and sat down.

“I didn’t know it was that bad,” Thor replied, his expression earnest. “We went to your old place to look for clues but it’s been cleared out, cleaned, and put up for sale.”

“Yeah, Dezzy did that while I was comatose,” Violet said. “I didn’t know about it until we got here.”

“He’s a good little brother. Kind of reminds me of someone,” Thor said, winking at her.

“Yeah yeah, you’re a good little brother too,” Violet quipped.

“What did the detective say?” Sif asked, picking at her teeth with her nail.

“Nothing. They have… Nothing,” Violet lamented.

There was a knock on the door then and Peyton came in, careful to close it quickly behind him. He looked between the three of them, realization dawning.

“So it’s true?” he asked, moving to stand behind Violet.

“What’s true?” Thor countered, feigning innocence.

“Are you really the god of thunder?” Peyton asked.

Both Sif and Thor turned to glare at Violet, who shrugged and glared back.

Thor held up his hand and pinched his forefinger and thumb together. When he separated them, a tiny bolt of lightning arced between the digits, making a tiny crackling noise as it hissed and sparked. He pinched the fingers back together, extinguishing it.

“Wow,” Peyton breathed. “Just… Wow.”

“Is there any chance that blade is in police custody? Somewhere besides an evidence locker?” Thor continued their conversation, effectively ignoring Peyton.

“I don’t know. Maybe Sif can magic her way in and check?” Violet suggested.

“We already did that. It’s not there. Could be they stashed it someplace else. Knife like that though, touching bare human hands—we’d have heard about the mysterious deaths,” Thor said, watching as Peyton dragged another chair over and sat next to Violet.

“What does it look like?” Peyton asked.

Sif groaned and held out her hand. An instant later, the blade she’d gotten from the dungeon materialized, floating abover her palm. Peyton reached for it, but Sif snapped her fingers and the knife disappeared.

“Do you want to die?” she asked, incredulously. “That is a soul blade, human. You can’t wield it without a barrier. It’ll suck your soul out of your body and leave you a dead, empty husk on the floor before you even realize what’s hit you.”

Peyton sat back and regarded the frost fae with wide-eyed incredulity. He looked at Violet.

“You’re right. She’s a bitch,” Peyton drawled.

“You told him I’m a bitch?” Sif snarled, her deep blue gaze shooting ice daggers at Violet.

“Quiet, pixie. The adults are talking,” Thor said, drawing the frost fae’s ire away from his sister. “So. Our only other avenue is Manny. Who has beef with him that also might have access to a soul blade?”

“What about that dwarven assassin’s guild?” Violet asked.

“Not them,” Sif chirped. “They just make the blades. Anybody with black market ties could have purchased it.”

“So we’re still at nothing,” Violet huffed. “Great.”

Thor and Sif sighed in agreement, both looking frustrated. Peyton looked between the three of them, a mixture of excitement and worry expressed on his face. He sat back again, rubbing his chin.

“Will restoring her soul from the soulblade help her walk again?” he asked a moment later, startling them all.

Sif looked at Violet, then down at her useless legs. She rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands. Honestly, the fae seemed more busted up about Violet’s disability than even Violet was. Thor intently studied Peyton and then the light in his eyes softened.

“You love her.”

It was an odd statement to make and Violet stifled a cough of surprise. Peyton regarded him coolly, staring him down.

“Yes. I do,” he matter-of-factly stated.

“I fail to see what that has to do with anything,” Violet interjected.

“It doesn’t. And yet it’s everything,” Thor cryptically responded.

“Okay, back on task. The knife,” Violet said.

Sif sat up suddenly then and looked between the three others, then she just… Disappeared.

“I really hate it when she does that,” Violet sighed, turning back to her spreadsheet.

“We’ll keep looking. Keep thinking,” Thor grunted, rising to his feet.

He reached across the desk to affectionately ruffle Violet’s hair. She offered him a flash of a smile in response. He turned and walked out of the office, leaving the door open, and disappeared in the direction of the gym. Violet felt Peyton’s gaze and turned to meet it.

He tentatively reached up to caress her cheek, his expression perturbed.

“Do I need ta be worried?” he asked, his voice soft.

“About?” she countered, adjusting herself in the wheelchair.

She noticed her lower back was sore and she shifted, trying to alleviate the dull ache. She rubbed at it.

He jerked his head in the direction of the door.

“Thor?” she asked, then laughed. “No. He’s my other warrior little brother.”

Peyton visibly relaxed and he sat back in the chair. She watched as he pulled out his phone and began reading something, tapping the screen every couple seconds to scroll. She returned to her own work, giving up on Gorski’s workout schedule and moving on to checking the mountain of emails that clogged her heavily neglected inbox.

“I meant it, ya know,” he murmured several moments later.

“Hmm?” she distractedly replied, turning from the screen to meet his gaze.

“I love you.”

Violet smiled, her eyes misting slightly.

“I love you too,” she whispered.

He reached for her, pulling her bodily from the wheelchair and onto his lap.

“Peyton,” she quietly said, “We can’t—”

“I just need ta hold ya. Let me hold ya for a moment,” he pleaded as he buried his face against her hair.

His arms went around her waist and snugly pressed her back into his torso. He rested his chin on her shoulder, smiling as her arms settled over his. He nuzzled the side of her neck, his breath hot on her skin. The sensation sent gooseflesh rocketing down her arms and back.

“Is now a bad time?” Manny’s voice startled them.

“No, we’re just…” Violet started, trying to sit up and failing.

“Stay there—you looked the most comfortable you’ve been since you woke back up,” Manny said, closing the door behind him.

Peyton shifted so that they both could more comfortably see Manny. He sat down in the chair Thor had recently vacated.

“What can I do for you?” Violet asked.

“I wanted to talk to you about a security detail,” Manny said, leaning forward in his seat.

“What for?” Violet queried.

“For you,” Peyton quietly said.

Manny nodded, adding, “For all of Phenom, actually.”

Violet studied Manny. The man was rarely ever rattled. He always came off as laidback and confident. He was calm, cool under pressure. Which, Violet surmised, was likely why he loved Taylor so much. He was the ice. She was the fire.

“Manny, what’s going on?” Violet decided to hit him head on.

Manny sighed and his face fell.

“There have been threats against all of the Phenom camp. There is a dark underworld here, as I’m sure you’re aware, and it’s trying to take control of the MMA leagues,” Manny quietly said. “You were the first casualty.”

“Well, maybe we can help each other,” Violet offered.

“Vi, I need to apologize,” Manny said, his dark eyes serious. “You’ve given more to this organization than anyone. You were attacked because of me.”

“I know,” Violet whispered.

Peyton’s grip around her waist tightened and she squeezed his forearm reassuringly.

“You do?”

“I don’t know the circumstances. But the man who attacked me? He told me to tell you he said hello,” Violet relayed.

The look of stark, terrified panic that took his features then hollowed out Violet’s stomach and she was suddenly lightheaded.

“Oh my god, Vi,” Manny breathed. “And you came back?”

“You bet your fucking ass I did. I won’t be bullied. I won’t be intimidated. And I will destroy them,” Violet venomously said.

The temperature in the room dropped rapidly, the lights dimmed, and the floor vibrated. She realized that steam swirled around her and Peyton. Manny stared wide-eyed at Violet; not a look of terror, but absolute awe graced his features.

Violet shook her head and closed her eyes, the lightheadedness returning. She sagged against Peyton.

*****

“Vi? Vi? Hey, darlin’, open your eyes,” she heard Peyton’s desperate pleas.

She struggled to lift her eyelids but finally, with much fluttering and strain, she managed to open them enough to see in front of her.

“There ya go,” Peyton breathed in relief, “There ya are.”

“What happened?” she whispered.

Manny’s face came into view next to Peyton’s. He lifted one of her eyelids to open her eye wider and watched her pupil response. Satisfied, he checked the other eye. When he was done with that, he snapped his fingers next to one ear, then the other, watching for her flinch response.

“I think she needs to go to the hospital,” Manny said, disappearing from view.

A moment later, Violet heard him talking to a dispatcher, telling them what he’d witnessed, her symptoms, and begging for an ambulance.

“No,” Violet hoarsely whispered, struggling against whatever held her, trying to sit up.

“Vi, no, stay down darlin’. You’ve had quite an episode,” Peyton gently said.

Violet opened her eyes wide and swung her head to look at her surroundings. She felt like she was being turned inside out. Something tugged deep within her, an almost violent pull.

“Get me in my chair,” she gasped.

“Vi—please—” Peyton pleaded.

“Trust me,” she whispered. “Trust me, please. Put me in my chair.”

Peyton hefted her into a sitting position and yanked her chair toward them. He deposited her gently into it. As soon as she took the brakes off, the wheelchair began to move. Violet tried to steer it and succeeded.

The pull subsided, suddenly weakening. She began pushing the chair toward the door and realized Peyton was behind her, helping her navigate. Violet started pointing the direction of the pull, which had grown exponentially stronger since they exited the office. Peyton followed her directions, fear’s grip on his spine tightening.

Sif appeared next to them then, Thor immediately behind.

“Follow her. Go where she leads,” Sif instructed Peyton, then disappeared.

Thor walked at Violet’s side and reached out.

“Take my hand,” he softly said, though his voice sounded like it was in her head.

She lifted her arm and weakly placed her hand in his.

“No matter how bad it hurts, you must keep going until you find it. It’s here. Somehow you triggered it and it’s here,” Thor’s voice echoed in her head. “Hold my hand. I’ll take on as much of it as I can.”

She adjusted her grip and his fingers tightened. She continued pointing with her other hand. They departed the building. The sky darkened and it began to rain heavily. Thunder rumbled closely enough to shake the earth.

Violet doubled over, the compulsion nearly yanking her out of the chair. Her grip on Thor’s hand tightened and she cried out through clenched teeth.

“It’s here!” Sif cried from across the parking lot.

She disappeared and reappeared near the dumpster at the farthest edge of the property. Sif opened it and scanned the detritus there, frantically searching for the knife. When she couldn’t immediately find it by sight, she jumped in without a second thought and started throwing the garbage aside.

Peyton started running, tipping the wheelchair back so that the rear wheels were the only ones touching the ground. Thor paced next to them, stumbling every few steps as the pull on Violet grew stronger.

Sif appeared over the dumpster and Peyton almost fell, his mind reeling in disbelief. Sif hovered over the dumpster, dragonfly-like wings beating in a blur from her back. She reached both tiny arms out and the dumpster lifted off the ground.

Peyton watched, astonished, as the dumpster slowly flipped in the air and the garbage inside fell out. But it didn’t hit the ground. It hung suspended, as though gravity itself ceased existing in that exact spot.

Sif tossed the dumpster aside and started looking through the floating garbage. Peyton and Thor bolted toward her, Thor grimacing grotesquely as he helped Violet survive the compulsion. Sif cried out with furious glee as she saw the object.

She used the same force that controlled the dumpster to pull the knife to her. She held it out away from her, careful not to touch it. She looked over in time for Peyton and Thor to catch up to her.

“Stop!” she cried, using her other hand to create a soft buffer that they ran into.

Peyton’s stomach heaved as his body suddenly stopped. Thor went a little further. Violet hung in the air, legs and arms dangling. Her head lolled back, her eyes closed.

“Hang on Gersemi!” Sif called to her.

The fae’s body glowed ice blue, her skin turned to crystal. She grabbed the knife by the handle, her body violently shuddering. Violet’s limp form stopped just before Sif’s outstretched hand. Sif grabbed her by the wrist and there was an explosion of bright blue light, like a lightning strike, but broader.

The world fell absolutely silent and still.