Under normal circumstances, Alistair wouldn't care if the two went back and forth, their odd love playing out in a way he didn't always understand.
However, Kiyana was stuck with his mother for who knew how long, and he wanted to rescue her from that form of torture. "So what's the damn emergency?"
Grant put up a hand, the pair exchanged some sort of nonverbal communication, and then the male looked back at Alistair. After taking something out of his pocket—a mini-scrambling device by the look of it—and clicking it, the male answered, "You know how Snowridge found and raided the place being used by the Dragon Knights in Wales, aye?"
Anger rolled in his stomach. The bastards had trapped children and experimented on them. "Aye, I do."
"Well, after going through all the stuff they found with a fine-tooth comb, one of the Snowridge Protectors found something concerning, something related to what Stonefire sent us recently."
He frowned. "Wait, what did Stonefire send you?"
&
nbsp; Faye jumped in, clearly unable to stay quiet for long. "A human showed up on their land with a flash drive full of information. Even though she's still unconscious from some kind of poison that's in her system, it appears she worked for the Dragon Knights at one point. Why she broke with them and ran, no one knows. But the flash drive contained loads of detailed information concerning ongoing projects, hideout locations, and more."
Grant spoke again. "Which brings us to why we're here. Snowridge found some tiny, weird-shaped devices they think were used to internally administer and monitor their prisoners. The information from Stonefire contained some schematics to something similar, although it doesn't say what they were used for explicitly—the human must've copied what she could find, not fully understanding what she got."
He put it together. "Which means you want me to look at the schematics, compare them to what was found on Snowridge, and determine their uses. And, if possible, ways to disable them if we find anyone with one of the devices in their bodies still."
Faye bit her lip in an unusual sign of hesitation or regret. "I know you're supposed to go through the frenzy with Kiyana. And until your dragon wakes up again, I'm sure you'd rather spend the time with her. However, this is important. If these sorts of devices are being used en masse, without our knowledge, that could be dangerous."
"Just how wee are they?"
"Very. You can barely see them with the naked eye," Grant stated.
Alistair rubbed both hands through his hair. He may want to spend time with Kiyana, but the lass had been right. Clan was important to a dragon-shifter. And even worse, the mystery device could be affecting the children they'd rescued in Wales. Especially if the devices were small enough to escape notice on various medical scans.
He couldn't risk them suffering, or worse, because he wanted to joke and tease with his future mate.
The only bollocks of it all was how he couldn't share his work with her.
Faye's gentle voice filled his ears. "I know this is a lot to ask. And I know you're a teacher now, not a researcher or electrical engineer. But this is a highly sensitive task, and Finn, as well as the other two clan leaders, want someone they trust to handle it. And given your background, you're the most qualified by far, Alistair."
Lowering his hands, he sighed. "I know. I'll take a look and figure it out, provided you fulfill one request."
Grant grunted. "You can't share this information with the human. She's not your mate yet, and it's too risky."
He clenched his fingers into a fist. Rationally, he knew Grant had to be careful. However, he didn't like him dismissing Kiyana so easily.
Tamping down his irritation, he bit out, "That's not my request. Kiyana seems to get along with Arabella. So can you have Ara rescue Kiyana from my mother? If I'm busy doing this, I don't want the lass trapped in that special variety of hell for long."
Faye snorted, and Grant shot her a look with narrowed eyes. The male looked back at Alistair. "I'll talk to Ara myself."
He nodded. "Okay, then I need everything you have. And I hope you've collected one of the devices from Snowridge."
"Aye, we have. Everything is ready for you inside the Protectors main security building."
As they made their way back and Alistair wheedled out as much information as he could about the assignment, he did his best not to think of Kiyana. He'd trust Finn and Arabella with his life, and they would take good care of his human.
No, what worried him was how long this project would take. Alistair already missed his inner beast, but he couldn't let him return until it was time for the frenzy. Because once a dragon-shifter kissed their true mate, there was no stopping their inner dragons' instincts without the use of drugs for extremely long stretches of time.
He only hoped Layla and the other doctors knew how much of the dragon sleeping drug he could take before it became too much. He and his dragon had a strong bond, but drugs did odd things to inner dragons. Sometimes, it silenced them forever.
And he shuddered to think of that ever happening to him.
Chapter Eight
As one day passed, and then another, Kiyana began to worry.