Although why he needed information on humans, she didn't know. For his students, yes, but maybe it had something to do with his secret project. The one related to the barely legible book on 18th- and 19th-century treaties.
So wrapped up in her thoughts, Kiyana didn't see Meg Boyd until she bumped into the older woman. Thankfully Meg didn't fall over, and once they were both solidly on two feet again, Meg took her hand. "Come with me, lass."
"I don't think—"
"Now."
The cheerful, nosey woman from the night of the party had vanished, revealing steel beneath Meg's surface.
Not wanting to fight the old woman in public, she allowed Meg to drag her inside a cottage. Since Meg walked in without knocking, Kiyana assumed it was hers. The pictures of her three sons on the wall proved her theory correct.
However, the hall wasn't enough, and Meg pulled her into a small side room, one filled with a sofa, a small desk, and a chair. Only once she tugged Kiyana inside and locked the door did she drop her hand and speak again. "My Alistair wants you."
She blinked. "Pardon?"
"Don't deny it, lass. I know my son, and he hasn't ever shown as much interest in a female as he has with you. So tell me, how can I help?"
Meg's suggestion was more than merely winking and nudging her side. Surely Alistair would understand Kiyana's need to be honest. "You can't. My role here is to watch over the females and observe enough so I can write papers and maybe even a book to help humans better understand dragon-shifters."
"It's because of your contract, aye?"
The old woman was full of surprises. "Er, yes. How did you know that?"
Meg waved a hand. "There's a way out of that."
She frowned. "How in the world do you know that?"
Raising her brows, Meg's gaze turned dead serious. "Everyone thinks I'm merely a busybody, meddling in everyone's business. And maybe that's true to an extent, but I have a secret, too, lass. Ever since Rosalind Abbott became the DDA Director, I've been secretly working for the DDA, too, on the sly."
Kiyana's jaw dropped. Since when did the DDA start hiring dragon-shifters? Not only that, but without letting anyone else know?
Meg tilted her head. "I can see you're confused, and I don't blame you. Only Finn knows the truth, although I suspect his mate does, too. That may be a wee violation, but Arabella is a clever lass who wouldn't do anything to hurt the clan, so I forgave Finn for it."
Kiyana's brain spun, and she tried to make it stop long enough to let her ask a question. However, Meg just pushed on, revealing what it must've been like for Alistair growing up. The older dragonwoman said, "Circling back, I work for the DDA, and I reviewed your contract. On the surface, aye, you aren't allowed to date or sleep with any dragon-shifter, male or f
emale. However, they left something out, something important. A point any lawyer would say works in your favor."
She should walk away from the whole crazy mess, but her curiosity burned. So, she asked, "What is it?"
Meg leaned in and whispered, "You're allowed to keep working if, using the human term, you're engaged. So, if you promise in front of the clan that you will be mated—say, as soon as your work contract is over—then you can do what you like with my son and keep your position within the DDA."
Kiyana merely stared at the dragonwoman. It took a second, but she finally made her mouth form words, "You want me to pretend to be Alistair's fiancée?"
Meg nodded. "Aye, that I do. You're my last hope, lassie. After all, he's turning thirty soon and while some dragonmen age well—like my own beaus—Alistair draws deeper into himself by the day. Soon, he'll be unreachable. You may be his—and my—last chance."
Kiyana didn't like how Meg dismissed her son so easily. Alistair was a bit mysterious, sure, and also liked to spend time reading dusty books in the clan archives. But he was sociable enough with the human women she'd accompanied, and he didn't seem like a complete recluse to her.
Meg prodded, "So, will you do it, lass? Pretend to be my Alistair's female?"
She'd have to handle the situation carefully. "I barely know him."
"Aye, I know. But don't deny you feel a pull toward him. I'm not sure if you're his true mate or not—not even I can judge that—but it's possible. Besides, even if it doesn't work between the two of you, then you can spend the time asking him all sorts of questions. I did my research on you, and I know you've been crawling your way out of the mistake you made five years ago. This will avoid that, and give you what you really want—the chance to maybe mate a dragon-shifter."
Meg Boyd was most definitely not who Kiyana had thought she was.
The entire scheme was crazy. She'd known Alistair less than a week and had spent maybe a few hours with him.
And yet, remembering how his heated gaze found hers, full of desire she'd never seen on another man, made her wonder if he was her happy ending. Ever since she'd been a child, Kiyana had wanted to live with the dragon-shifters. Her work had been the closest she'd come to achieving that, so she'd thrown her whole weight behind it.