Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
They arrived early to the office, which Jonah seemed to appreciate.
It was required for Emmett, he had to get there early enough for handover from the night shift, but Jonah looked glad to not have to interact with people too much.
He leaned against the back of the elevator with his eyes closed as they made their way to the Cyber Security office, and his smile was a little strained when Emmett dropped him off, but he seemed okay, and Emmett got the feeling he wouldn’t appreciate it if he hovered.
He took the stairs to the security office just to work off some excess energy.
He considered asking a few people for a pack run sometime soon, he was getting snarly and that wasn’t like him, but then he thought about Jonah and the idea of leaving him all alone while he went out with his family felt mean.
Maybe he could convince Jonah to join them? That’d be fun.
Shaw and the rest of the night shift guys were reporting to Ronan, but Shaw stepped aside and spoke quietly enough not to interrupt, asking, “How’s your guy?”
Emmett’s chest puffed up a little at Jonah being referred to as ‘his’. He’d work on making that official. Jonah deserved to know he was wanted.
“He’s…” He trailed off, considering his answer. He couldn’t say Jonah was okay, he still smelled like sadness and pain when he wasn’t distracted, but he was better than the night prior. “He’s going through some stuff,” he hedged. “He’ll be okay.”
Emmett would make sure of that. He started by seeking out the happiest person in the building the minute the meeting was over, skipping past the line into Peri’s Place since he had no intention of buying anything. He was on a mission.
“Are you skipping the line?” an accusing voice asked.
Emmett looked down at the goblin near the front of the line who was scowling at him. “Good morning, Mr. Martell. No, I’m not ordering anything today. I just need to talk to Peri really quick.”
Thankfully, since Peri’s Place was popular, he had staff to help him and could pop out of the kitchen for a quick break once the person at the till let him know Emmett was asking for him. He came out wiping his hands on a dishcloth, his head cocked in concern.
“Emmett? Is everything alright?”
Emmett considered his words carefully. He didn’t want to share Jonah’s business with the whole company, and there were too many nosy people around watching for him to keep things confidential. Instead, he went for vague, keeping his voice to a whisper so they wouldn’t be overheard.
“Jonah had a… rough night. He could use some love. Can you check on him sometime today?”
Peri looked startled, opening his mouth to ask questions, but he caught Emmett’s significant look at the crowded room and snapped it closed again, waving him out the door. They headed for a less crowded corner of the lobby, and the minute they were alone, Peri demanded, “What happened?”
Emmett shook his head. “I don’t want to share without his permission. He just needs extra support today.”
Peri didn’t look pleased at the lack of information, but he was a good friend and understood Jonah’s right to privacy.
He fluttered his wings enough to lift over Emmett’s head, looking around until he spotted who he was looking for.
Pressing his fingers to his lips, he whistled out a little tune loud enough to cut through the noise in the lobby.
The response was immediate, two whistles from two different directions.
Emmett watched in fascination as Taron and Kian appeared from the crowd, heading straight for Peri with curious expressions.
“That’s the bat signal, Peri. What’s up?” Taron asked as he approached.
Peri waved them closer, landing on his feet again as he spoke in a whisper. “Something’s wrong with Jonah. Emmett needs our help to cheer him up.”
Both heads whipped around so fast, Emmett was surprised no one got hurt. He put his hands up defensively. “I can’t tell you everything. That’s Jonah’s choice to share what happened. But he’s had a rough night, and he needs extra support.”
Taron’s eyes narrowed. “I’m going to need more than that.”
Emmett shook his head, growling out a warning when Taron’s features wavered like a heat wave for a second. Shapeshifters were deceptively strong.
“Enough,” Kian snapped. “Taron, that’s not helpful. It’s Jonah’s story to tell.”
“That’s my kid. I’m adopting him. He’s my responsibility,” Taron argued.
Emmett hadn’t thought that was serious, and from the looks on Kian’s and Peri’s faces, neither had they.
Taron looked pissed, though, and ready to storm up to Cyber Security to confront Jonah directly.
That wouldn’t be helpful and Jonah would likely be pissed that Emmett had even shared this much.
He caught Taron’s arm before he could storm off, leveling him with a look.
“I’m not sharing Jonah’s story, but I’ll tell you this. I’ve never smelled that kind of pain and heartache on a person before. He’s in grief. He needs our support, not you demanding information. Be good or I’ll hurt you.”
Taron scowled at him, crossing his arms defensively over his chest, and when that bottom lip came out in a pout, Emmett let himself breathe a sigh of relief. Pouting Taron was way more cooperative than pissed off Taron.
“I just want to help.”
“And you can,” Kian pointed out. “But confronting Jonah and demanding information wouldn’t be helpful. I get the feeling that stubborn human would shut down faster than you could get the words out to ask what was wrong. We need to come at this differently with him.”
“What did you have in mind?” Peri asked.
Kian shook his head. “I don’t know. I’d need more than a minute to come up with a plan.”
Taron looked contemplative for a second before glancing up at Emmett. “Just answer one question for me. Does it have something to do with his family?”
Emmett hesitated, then nodded once. They could probably figure out what happened based on that information alone, but Taron looked so unusually serious. Emmett felt like he had a plan in mind.
With a decisive nod, Taron turned to face the group as a whole. “Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do…”
Jonah had kind of hoped he’d have a quiet day of installing firewalls and updates to look forward to.
Something simple and mindless to keep him from thinking too hard about how much his life had fallen apart.
He’d enjoyed breakfast with Emmett and his pack, but it was also a stark reminder of what he’d lost. He wouldn’t ever have that kind of camaraderie or connection with his own family.
It was a little hard to stomach sometimes.
Which was why he was looking forward to some quiet work.
Just a little time to not think for a while.
But for some reason, people kept showing up to talk to him.
First it was Roz, who normally popped in with a list of things for him to do before flitting back out again to do her own thing.
That morning, she’d decided to demand he work in the office with her, giving him a crash course in cyber security for at least an hour before she finally got an alert on her computer she needed to check and sent him on his way.
Then came Kian, who said he wanted to check in on how he was liking the job but then stuck around to chat. Kian didn’t really seem like the hang out and chat kind of guy, so it felt weird.
Once, after he’d gone to the bathroom, he came back to a plate of cupcakes and cookies obviously from Peri, with a note saying he couldn’t stay, but he hoped the treats made his day a little brighter.
Taron’s visit wasn’t really surprising, he’d popped up a few times since he decided he wanted to adopt Jonah, and nothing about his behavior seemed too different, but he did seem to ask a lot about what Jonah’s favorite foods were and whether or not he was afraid of heights.
Jonah was almost afraid to ask what he was thinking about.
By the time lunch rolled around, he was getting suspicious.
No one mentioned him getting kicked out or disowned by his family, but he got the feeling Emmett was making the rounds with just enough information to concern people.
The thought annoyed him, he didn’t want people’s pity, and he was considering working through lunch until he could get his emotions under control.
It wasn’t fair to Emmett for Jonah to take his bad mood out on him, he was only trying to help.
He didn’t have a chance to decide before Roz came back.
“Let’s go, newbie.”
“Go where?” he asked warily.
“To meet with the lunch crew. It’s food time.”
The normal request was even more suspicious than if she’d asked him to join her on a wilderness safari. There was no way it was just a normal lunch. Right?
She narrowed her eyes on him. “Why are you staring at me?”
“Who else is going to be there?” he countered.
She rolled her eyes. “No clue. Ask your boyfriend. Now, let’s go!”
He immediately shook his head, and the only reason he didn’t spin around to go back to his work was because she wouldn’t be able to read his lips that way and that was rude. “I’m not really good company right now. I think I’ll just work through lunch.”
Planting her fists on her hips, she scowled at him. “No way. You need to eat. It wasn’t a request.”
“Roz…” he sighed, both exasperated and sad. Why couldn’t his family have fought like this for him? “I know Emmett’s been talking about me, and I’m sorry he made you worry, but I really don't feel up for anything social right now.”
She scoffed. “He hasn’t, actually. He’s been incredibly tight lipped about what happened to you.
All he said was that you had a rough night and asked people to check in on you.
I know he’s come up here a few times, but he doesn’t want to interrupt you so he always tiptoes away before you notice him. He’s trying to help, Jonah.”
“I know that,” Jonah murmured, frowning at his feet.
“I just…” He wanted to say he was hoping to put some distance between himself and the people he’d met at Spellbound.
It was only a matter of time before he had to leave.
He’d lose them too eventually. But he got the feeling that’d only piss her off more, and he just didn’t have the emotional energy to argue with her.
He heard her jingle as she came closer, squatting in front of him so he couldn’t avoid her gaze. “I know what it feels like to want to push the world away when things are rough, Jonah. You’re only making it harder on yourself if you hide. Let your friends help you.”
“I don’t want them to pity me,” he croaked.
She shrugged. “So don’t let them. Show them what a badass you are that when things are tough, you face it head on. You don’t hide away in your office. Now let’s go! I’m hungry, and I was promised good food.”
He snorted, and he felt a little tension loosen in his chest when he gave in with a nod. He figured he might as well get this over with. Once it was out there, he wouldn’t have to talk about it again. Hopefully, anyway.