Page 55 of Real Scale Blazer
A proud smile lit up her face. “Simple geological analysis. The crystalline structure showed clear stress patterns that, whencombined with the underlying fault lines and your magical energy flow, created a perfect weak point. Hit it in exactly the right spot and...” She mimed an explosion with her hands. “Physics does the rest.”
“Simple geological analysis,” he repeated, shaking his head in amazement. “Remind me never to underestimate you.”
“Too late for that. But you can make it up to me by answering about fifty questions about how your magic interfaces with the local tectonic structure.” She pulled out her notebook again. “Starting with the energy frequency patterns I recorded in the cave before everything went sideways.”
“Now?”
“No time like the present. Besides,” she added with a pointed look, “you owe me for the whole ‘hiding the magical destiny thing’ situation.”
He couldn’t argue with that. “Where would you like to start?”
“From the beginning.” She settled onto a nearby bench, patting the space beside her. “Tell me everything about how the first Dragon Kings shaped these mountains. Leave nothing out.”
As Kai sat beside her, watching her prepare to take notes with the same intensity she brought to everything, he marveled at how perfectly his magic had chosen. No swooning maiden or power-hungry noble—his fated mate was a brilliant scientist who approached even magic with analytical precision and unwavering curiosity.
The path ahead wouldn’t be easy. Ordan and his allies would strike again, and the kingdom’s instability wouldn’t resolve itself overnight. But watching Quinn sketch complex geological diagrams while peppering him with increasingly technical questions about magical energy flow, Kai felt true peace for the first time in centuries.
They would face whatever came next together—the Dragon King and his scientist, magic and science intertwined in waysneither fully understood yet. And somehow, that seemed exactly right.
“Are you even listening?” Quinn’s voice broke through his thoughts. “I asked about the correlation between magical surge events and microseismic activity.”
“My apologies.” He smiled, focusing on her curious eyes and the way her hand never stopped moving across the page. “Where were we?”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t quite hide her answering smile. “The beginning, remember? Though at this rate, we’ll be here until the next ice age.”
“I have time if you do.”
“Smooth talker.” But she shifted slightly closer as she started a new page. “Now, about those surge events...”
Above them, the twin suns sank below the horizon, painting the ice-wrapped kingdom in shades of amber and rose. In the distance, the mountains stood silent and strong, waiting to share their secrets with the woman who would help save them all—whether she believed in destiny or not.
FORTY-TWO
Quinn squinted at her notes spread across the library’s crystalline table, the alien suns casting rainbow prisms across her paper. Her field journal lay open beside complex maps of the palace grounds, each marked with red dots indicating “accidents” over the past weeks. The pattern screamed deliberate sabotage, but something about her suspicions toward Bhesna nagged at her scientific mind.
A warm presence materialized behind her, accompanied by the now-familiar scent of winter pine and smoke that marked Kai’s arrival. “You missed breakfast,” he rumbled, setting a steaming mug beside her elbow. “Again.”
“Some of us don’t have supernatural dragon metabolism.” But she reached for the drink—a rich, spiced tea that had become her addiction since arriving on Nova Aurora. “Though I notice you found time to track me down.”
“A king should know his kingdom’s vulnerabilities.” His hand brushed her shoulder as he leaned over to study her maps. “Including willful scientists who forget to eat.”
“I’m not willful. I’m focused.” She tilted her head back to meet his eyes, fighting a smile. “There’s a difference.”
“Ah, yes. Like there’s a difference between ‘investigating potential threats’ and ‘deliberately antagonizing my entire council’?”
“That meeting was not my fault. Lord Dravick started it with his ‘primitive human science’ comments.”
“You called his ancestral theories ‘geologically impossible and logically bankrupt.’“
“I was being nice! I had graphs ready to prove exactly how wrong he was.” She gestured at her notebooks. “With citations.”
Kai’s laugh rumbled through his chest, the sound sending pleasant vibrations through her where he stood close—too close for professional distance, not close enough for her growing need to lean into him.
“Only you would consider academic citations an act of mercy.” His fingers traced idle patterns on her shoulder, the touch both soothing and distracting. “Though I admit, watching you dismantle centuries of draconic assumption with pure logic is... compelling.”
Heat crawled up her neck at his tone. “Careful, Your Majesty. People might think you’re developing a thing for science.”
“Not science.” His voice dropped lower, intimate. “Just one particularly fascinating scientist.”