Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Emmett couldn’t seem to get his mind off Jonah.
That had been true since the day they met, but today was different.
When he’d approached Jonah’s truck that morning, he could smell the distress Jonah was trying to hide with a tight smile.
He settled after a hug, but something was obviously bothering him.
But when Emmett tried to bring it up again, Jonah had just shaken his head and said it was nothing.
A cackle drew this attention, and he looked up just in time to see Miles, the resident mage on the Entertainment Division security team, tip his chair on the back legs, smirking at his phone as he scrolled through it.
He was supposed to be working reception today, Emmett had been moving everyone around to see where they thrived, but being on his phone playing around wasn’t what he wanted from the man.
With an exasperated sigh, he called out, “Phone away, Miles. They don’t pay you to play on your phone.”
That got him a disgruntled look, but Miles did as he was told, shoving his phone in his pocket with a huff and crossing his arms over his chest. He stared at the open doorway for a long minute before groaning, “I’m bored!
What’s the point of having a reception desk if there’s nothing to do all day? ”
“Because someone might come with a security concern, and there needs to be someone in the office to receive them and keep them out of areas they shouldn’t be,” Emmett answered patiently. Well, somewhat patiently. He’d have this conversation before, and it was getting kind of annoying.
“So why not put a ward between us and the elevators that only people with the right energy can get through?” Miles shot back, waving his hands dramatically at the open space between the reception desk and the cubicles.
“We’d have to tune the ward to literally everyone on the security team, plus management, plus Supernatural Resources. It’d get taxing on whatever mage was creating it and annoying if anyone new was hired,” Emmett explained.
Miles’s chair dropped to all four legs and he stood, leaning against the reception desk with his arms crossed.
“Okay, so why not put a regular wall there. Hell, if you want to keep the illusion of it all being one room, you could put a plexiglass wall so everyone could still see us like good little fish in a bowl, and no one would have to sit here staring at the wall.”
Emmett gave him a flat look at the fish bowl comment, it was his idea to put up a glass wall, but he had a point.
They really didn’t need a reception desk in the upstairs security offices.
The first floor one, sure. Contractors, delivery people who couldn’t leave things with Clarita, hopeful interviewees, all needed to go through the security office first now, thanks to Ronan’s new rules.
Reception was necessary there. But once they were past the turnstiles, they weren’t required to check into another security office unless they needed an escort.
The offices in each division were more for a place for the security team to gather so they didn’t have to all head back to the security office in the main building several times a day and to be close if they were needed.
It was rare that people came in their office specifically.
“I’ll mention it to Alistair,” Emmett conceded. “You’re right, reception may be unnecessary for the most part. There will still need to be people in the office just in case but–”
“Yeah, yeah, I get that part. But I’m not even allowed to do any side projects sitting up here. It’s a ‘distraction’,” he complained, making air quotes with his fingers.
Emmett snorted. Jonah did the same thing when he was annoyed. “You’ve made your point. For now, though, you’ll have to put up with it. Why don’t you use the time to write down a report with your suggestion and why you think it's a good idea?”
Miles screwed up his face, confused. “What? Why?”
“Because it’s your idea,” Emmett pointed out. “I’m not taking credit for your ideas. If it works out, you deserve to be recognized.”
The response seemed to surprise the mage, who looked bewildered at Emmett’s insistence that he put his name on his own ideas.
Emmett just chuckled, pushing out of his chair where he’d been going through employee files to see if he needed to move anyone else.
He needed to meet with Zed, see how he felt the new way of doing things was going.
He was smart, had a lot to say, and Emmett liked him.
Even if he did greet him with the stink eye every morning.
Before knocking on the office door, he felt his phone buzz and pulled it out automatically to check it. He smiled when he saw Jonah’s name on the screen, using his thumb to flick open the conversation.
Jonah: Why did the IT tech go broke?
Emmett: Why?
Jonah: Because he was working for cache.
Emmett muffled a snicker. He wasn’t sure why lame jokes had become their thing, but he wasn’t about to complain about it. It was hilarious to see just how awful the jokes they came up with could be.
Emmett: Why was the computer cold?
Jonah: …
Jonah: Why?
Emmett: It left its Windows open.
Jonah: Oh gods, I just laughed out loud, and one of the construction guys looked at me like I had two heads.
Emmett: Some species have multiple heads. It’d make more sense if he’d be looking at you weird because you had no heads at all.
Jonah sent back an eye roll emoji.
Jonah: Humans have one head. I assume because he’s a supe, he knows I’m human.
Emmett: True. Humans smell funny.
Jonah: Well, apparently I smell like you so what does that say about how you smell?
A low rumble rattled Emmett’s throat, and the reminder that Jonah smelled like him made his cock swell. Good thing he wore cargo pants with a lot of room or the meeting with Zed would get really embarrassing.
“Hey! If I’m not allowed on my phone, why are you?” Miles complained.
It was Emmett’s turn to roll his eyes. He sent one last text to Jonah, letting him know he was headed into a meeting, added a quick flirty sign off about how Jonah hadn’t complained about his smell the night prior, and tucked the phone away, scowling at Miles.
“I’m starting to not like you.”
Miles just grinned, completely unrepentant. Little jerk. He was lucky Emmett liked him.
He looked forward to meeting up with Jonah again at the end of the day, even if he’d only seen him a few hours prior at lunch.
He lifted his chin in greeting at the construction guys who were taking a break as he passed them on the way to find the adorable human.
They had long hours ahead of them to finish the construction quickly, and Emmett didn’t envy their work.
He was going to look for Jonah in the storage room from before but showed up just in time to watch Jonah disappear into Rosalind’s office.
“Hey, Rosalind, did you want to–”
“Oh, goddess, no. Roz. Call me Roz. Rosalind is so old fashioned,” the fairy complained.
Emmett poked his head into the room, catching Jonah’s amused smirk as he nodded. “Alright, Roz. Did we want to put the new computers on a private network first while setting them up? That way we can be sure nothing will sneak in while we’re setting up firewalls and stuff like that.”
Roz gave a nod of approval. “Smart. We’ll connect them to my private network starting tomorrow. You’ve done enough for today.” She waved him away, then raised an eyebrow when she noticed Emmett. “You’re here a lot. Are you interested in tech or just being nosy?”
“Neither. I’m here for him,” Emmett said, jerking his chin at Jonah.
Ever since Jonah pointed out that she was deaf, he was careful to face her directly when speaking and enunciate like Jonah told him.
He was curious, though. “Can I ask how you speak so well? I would have never known you were deaf if Jonah hadn’t pointed it out. ”
“A spell,” she commented blandly. Emmett gave her a flat look, making her smirk.
“I was born deaf, so reproducing words out loud was always hard for me. I got teased a lot at school. There were some options for implants and stuff like that, but I adamantly refused as a kid. Instead, my parents put me in a clinical trial for a voice smoothing spell here with Spellbound’s Medical Innovations research team.
I’ve had it long enough now, and it’s been adapted enough times that my voice almost sounds natural, according to everyone else anyway.
” She shrugged. “I couldn’t tell either way, but it stopped the bullying and pitying looks I used to get. ”
“That’s really cool,” Jonah said, looking at her curiously. “Is it invisible?”
She shook her head, pulling her hair up to show a string of runes behind her ear.
“I don’t think any spell is completely invisible.
I could probably glamor it, but I figured why bother?
I’m not ashamed of being deaf, and the spell was just to make my life a little easier.
No one has said anything negative about it, and if they did now, I’d destroy their online presence faster than they could blink. ”
Emmett snorted, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk. He spoke again when Roz looked back at him. “Remind me not to piss you off. I don’t have much of an online presence, but I don’t want to make enemies with someone who can destroy me without even giving me a chance to fight back.”
Roz smirked at him, her grin entirely feline and too smug, but Emmett liked it on her. She was nice to Jonah, he was bouncing every time he left work because she gave him tasks he enjoyed, and she gave no shits. She was fun.
“Alright, enough about me. I’ve got more to do before I leave. Shoo, both of you.” She waved them toward the door, spinning to face her screens again. The music started blasting a moment later, but at least she was polite enough to wait until they were out of the room.
Emmett’s ears flattened, and he grimaced. “She doesn’t play it that loud when you’re in the room, right?”
Jonah snickered and shook his head. “No. She turns it off when I flicker the lights. You don’t have to walk me to my truck, you know. That douchewolf isn’t here anymore. I’m not afraid to get there on my own.”
“Douchewolf?” Emmett cackled. “I’m so calling him that to his face. And I’m not here as an escort. I’m here as a fake boyfriend to steal you away for another meal.”
Jonah grimaced when he pressed the button for the elevator, making Emmett cock his head.
“Is something wrong?”
“No…”
Yeah, that was a lie and not even a good one. He didn’t even need magic to tell Jonah was lying to him. He caught Jonah’s chin with his knuckle, guiding his face up and giving him an expectant look. Jonah’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“I got home too late last night. My parents said if I came home late again, I’d be sleeping on the porch. It’s better if I go straight home.”
Emmett’s mouth fell open in horror. “They’d make you sleep outside because you came home late?” he squawked. What kind of family would do such a thing?