Novels by Achie Ver

The morning began with a storm that refused to move. Heavy clouds clung low over Crest Tower, gray and unmoving, as if the sky itself wanted to trap everything inside the building.Wind hit the windows in harsh bursts, like fists pounding to be let in. Inside, the halls were quiet, not peaceful, but tense, like a breath held too long.Rhea Caulder walked quickly toward Kai’s private command floor, her footsteps sharp against the polished ground. She held three datapads against her chest, filled with proofs, counter-proofs, system logs, and desperate explanations she had repeated a thousand times to herself since dawn.She rehearsed the words again: “It’s not me. I was framed. Kai, you know me. You KNOW me.”But fear twisted inside her. Ever since the Whisper Grid showed her name. Ever since the blackout that erased the signature. Ever since the satellites were traced back to her access…Nothing had been the same.Eren hardly looked at her. Security watched her every step. And Kai, Ka

The night after Kai dissolved the board felt too quiet, unnaturally quiet, the sort of silence that made the walls of Crest Tower feel alive. It was the silence before a break, before something whispered from the dark.Eren Vale stood alone in the lower data vault, a place few people ever entered willingly. The cold metal walls rose like cliffs on all sides, humming with faint energy. Hundreds of sealed storage columns lined the chamber, each holding archives of Crest’s deepest secrets, logs, encrypted keys, forgotten experiments.Tonight, something in this room was wrong. Terribly wrong. He felt it before he saw it.A pull. A disturbance in the hum. Like someone breathing behind a closed door.Eren tightened his grip on the datapad in his hand. The Whisper Grid’s message from earlier still glowed on the screen: “ORIGIN: RHEA SOLD THE SYSTEM KEYS.”He didn’t believe it. He didn’t want to. But Kai’s face after reading that message… the fear in his eyes… the confusion… the trembling p

The night came faster than anyone expected. Dark clouds swallowed the sky.The last traces of sunlight vanished behind them, leaving Crest City under a thick, suffocating shadow.Wind pulled at the tower walls like a warning. Lightning flashed without thunder, white, violent, unsettlingly silent.Inside Crest Tower, the boardroom lights burned bright, but the air was cold.The board of Crest Industries sat around the long black table like judges in a trial. Their expressions were sharp. Their voices were low and bitter. Their hands restless, tapping pens or gripping armrests, as if trying to hide their fear.Everyone had heard about the Grid’s messages. Everyone had heard about the blackout.Everyone had heard the rumor: Kai Vale is no longer fully in control.At the center of the room, the main seat, Kai’s seat, was empty. The board members exchanged glances. “He’s late.”“He’s avoiding us.”“He knows what this meeting is about.”“After last night? I don’t blame him.”But no one rea

Morning broke over Crest City like a dying ember. There was no brightness. No warmth.Only a faint, cold glow that painted the towers in pale silver, as if the entire city was holding its breath.Inside Crest Tower, the atmosphere was heavier than the sky. The Whisper Grid had gone silent.No flickering lights. No sudden pulses. No coded murmurs. A total, unnatural stillness.Rhea Caulder felt it the moment she stepped into the analytics wing. The air felt wrong, too clean, too empty, like something huge had left the room only seconds before she arrived.She stood in the doorway, breathing fast, eyes scanning the dark screens. “Why is everything off?” she whispered.Her voice echoed slightly, because there was nothing, absolutely nothing, responding to her.She touched the console. It did not hum. It did not react. It did not even acknowledge her touch.Eren Vale rushed in from the opposite door, hair disheveled, face tense. “Rhea,” he said, “the Grid’s silent across the entire buildi

The blackout lasted only seven seconds. Seven seconds of complete darkness. Seven seconds where the world seemed to stop breathing. Seven seconds where Kai, Rhea, and Eren stood frozen in a room swallowed by silence, then, light returned in a violent surge, flooding the analytics wing with a pale, cold glow.The screens rebooted. The consoles hummed back to life, but the name the Whisper Grid had shown…That single terrible name…It did not come back.It vanished from the logs. It vanished from memory banks. It vanished as if it had never been written at all.Rhea stared at the blank screen, trembling. “Kai,” she whispered, “it erased itself.”Eren swallowed hard. “The Grid didn’t want us to see it twice.”Kai stood still in the center of the room, eyes unfocused, like he was listening to something far away, something only he could hear. His expression was cold, unreadable, rigid like a statue. “Kai,” Rhea said, voice shaking, “you need to sit. You’re pale. You’re trembling.”Kai didn

The storm had not rested since morning. Thunder rolled over Crest City like a warning, low and angry, echoing between the tall towers as if the sky itself wanted to shake everything awake.Rain streaked down the windows of the Crest analytics wing in long silver lines. Inside, the lights were dim. People moved with quiet urgency. No one spoke loudly. No one dared break the fragile stillness.Rhea Caulder stood at the center of a cluster of holographic screens, her body rigid with tension.Her hands were sharp, precise, almost violent as she typed. Her face was pale with exhaustion, yet her eyes were bright, burning with determination.Eren Vale entered the room quickly, wiping rain from his face. He carried two datapads under his arm. His steps were fast but careful, like someone walking toward truth while praying it wasn’t real.He approached her slowly. “Rhea,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “You found something?”She didn’t turn. Not yet. Not until the final command finishe

The crater still smoked. Dust hung thick in the air, glowing faintly in the light of Aiden’s mismatched eyes. Every breath stung with ash and burnt stone.Kylian stumbled forward, his legs weak, his sword dragging across the ground. His chest ached from the blast, but he didn’t care. His eyes locked on the lone figure standing at the crater’s heart. His brother. “Aiden,” Kylian called, his voice breaking.Aiden stood still, his head bowed, silver fire flickering along one arm, black shadow writhing across the other. His grip on his sword was tight, knuckles pale, as if letting go would shatter him completely.He looked up slowly. His silver eyes blazed. His red eyes glowed. And his lips moved. “Run.”The word echoed, layered with two voices. Elara was behind Kylian, her bow trembling in her hands though no arrows remained. Her silver eyes widened with alarm. “He’s losing control.”The stranger stood farther back, daggers drawn, their hood torn and face bruised from the shockwave. The

The square was silent after the blast, but the silence was wrong. It was heavy, broken by the crackle of strange energy around Aiden.The air shimmered with heat and frost at the same time. Silver fire burned along one side of his body, glowing bright, while black shadow curled and writhed on the other.Kylian stared, his sword slipping from his hand. “Aiden…” His voice cracked, barely a whisper.Aiden’s chest rose and fell with sharp, uneven breaths. His hands shook as he gripped his sword buried in the stone. His face was pale, sweat dripping, but his eyes… his eyes glowed with two colors.One silver. One red. The sight made Elara step back, her bow trembling in her grip. “This should not be possible,” she whispered. “No one can hold both.”The stranger’s eyes narrowed under their hood. “And yet he is.”Seraphiel still stood near the citadel gates, silver flames cloaking his form. But his calm was gone. His face, once steady, was tight with alarm. “This cannot be,” he muttered. “The

The square glowed like day. Silver fire poured from the citadel gates, flooding the cracked stones, burning back the black flames that caged them. The shadow tendrils shrieked as they withered, retreating into the ground.Elara collapsed to her knees, freed from the crushing grip. She coughed blood, her cloak torn, but her silver eyes still burned faintly. Kylian scrambled to her side, pulling her back from the heat, his own chest heaving with fear.The stranger stumbled to a halt, daggers raised, staring at the blaze with wary awe.And Aiden, Aiden could barely breathe. The silver glow in his eyes flared brighter, answering the light from the citadel. His sword trembled in his grip, his veins humming with energy that wasn’t fully his own. The fire parted, and the figure stepped forward.It was a man. Tall, cloaked in silver robes that shimmered like liquid light. His face was partly hidden beneath a hood, but what showed was strong, sharp lines, eyes like molten silver, glowing sof

The ground trembled. Black fire rose from the cracks, curling like serpents, coiling high until the entire square was a cage of shadow and flame. The heat pressed against their skin, though the fire gave no warmth, only cold, bitter, bone-deep.Aiden gripped his sword, his silver spark flickering in his eyes again. The glow was faint, weaker than before, but enough to catch in the dark flames. His body was still weak from the hidden road, every breath strained, but he forced himself to stand.Kylian stood in front of him, sword shaking in his hands, his jaw set in grim defiance. “You’re not touching him.”The stranger shifted, stepping into a low stance, both daggers drawn. Their eyes never left the hooded figure. “That’s not just another hunter. That’s him.”Elara’s silver eyes burned bright, her voice low, almost reverent. “Vatou. The Lord of Shadows.”The hooded figure tilted its head. The voice that came from it was not one voice, but many, deep, hollow, endless. “You speak my n

The river roared behind them, its spray misting the air, but no one turned back. The grass underfoot was damp, the earth cracked where silver and red had clashed. Smoke still lingered from the fight, but the hunters were gone. For now.Aiden leaned heavily on Kylian’s shoulder as they walked, his body still weak. His eyes had returned to their usual color, but the memory of that silver glow lingered in everyone’s mind. No one spoke of it. Not yet.The stranger walked ahead, blades sheathed but hands always near their hilts, eyes scanning the horizon. Elara followed behind, her bow in hand, silver eyes dark with thought.The only sound was the river fading into the distance and the crunch of their steps.Finally, Kylian broke the silence. His voice was tight, raw from shouting in battle. “We should rest. Aiden needs.”“No,” Elara cut in sharply. “Not here. Not anywhere near this place. The hunters will return, and if Kael calls others…” Her gaze swept the horizon. “We must reach the w

The wind howled across the cliffside. Grass bent low, and the river below roared like thunder. Lightning still danced in the clouds above, fading slowly, but its echoes filled the air with static.Aiden knelt in the center of it all, his sword buried in the earth, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. The black lines that had poisoned his flesh were gone, erased as if they had never existed. But his eyes glowed silver, brighter than moonlight.Kael stood frozen. His crimson blade still hummed, but for the first time his stance was not steady. His mask tilted slightly, his voice rougher than before. “Impossible.”The green and violet hunters shifted uneasily, their weapons glowing, but even they seemed to hesitate.Elara’s silver eyes widened, and for once, she looked shaken. She lowered her bow slowly, her lips parting. “No… it can’t be.”Kylian was kneeling beside Aiden, gripping his shoulder tightly. He looked into his brother’s glowing eyes and felt a shiver run down h

The villa slept in uneasy silence. The storm outside had passed, leaving only the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs. The night air was cool and damp, drifting through the half-open windows. Selena lay restless in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her father’s last words haunted her. “Choose love, not blood. But Leon’s cold gaze haunted her even more. You chose him. You chose blood.”Her heart twisted until it hurt. She turned to the side, clutching the pillow. She wanted sleep, wanted peace, but none came, then she heard it.A faint click. Her blood ran cold. Slowly, her eyes turned to the window. It was wider than before. The curtains stirred though no wind blew, and then… he stepped through. Kael Voss.Tall. Calm. Silver eyes gleaming like knives in the moonlight. Selena’s breath caught in her throat. She sat up quickly, pressing back against the headboard. “No…”Kael’s voice was soft, almost a whisper, but it filled the room like thunder. “Yes.”He closed the window behin

The night was fire and smoke. Leon dragged Selena through the choking haze, her screams piercing the storm of gunfire. Jason covered their retreat, bullets snapping through the air. Eira moved like a shadow, her pistols flashing, cutting down Kael’s soldiers one by one. “Move!” Leon barked, pulling Selena toward the vehicles.“No! My father, let me go!” Selena thrashed against him, her face streaked with tears. “We can’t leave him! We can’t!”Gregory’s bloodied body lay on the concrete behind them, struggling to rise. His breaths were short, wet, ragged. Yet even in agony, his eyes burned with desperate resolve. “Go!” Gregory roared, his voice breaking. “Go, damn it! Don’t look back!”Another hail of bullets ripped across the dock. Jason cursed, firing wildly into the dark. “Boss, we’re out of time!”Eira hurled a smoke canister, the white cloud swallowing the battlefield. She grabbed Jason’s arm, shoving him toward the car. “Now!”Selena twisted free from Leon at the last second, s

The night exploded with fire and steel. Bullets tore across the docks. Sparks flew from metal containers as red tracers cut through the shadows. The air reeked of smoke, oil, and blood.Leon’s voice was a roar through the chaos. “Jason! Left flank! Eira, cover!”Jason fired burst after burst, his rifle kicking against his shoulder. “We’re outnumbered three to one!”Eira ducked behind a crate, twin pistols flashing in both hands. Her green eyes were cold fire, her jaw tight. “Hold them off!”In the center of it all, Selena knelt with Gregory, her heart slamming like a drum. She clutched his bound hands, trembling as Kael’s silver eyes pinned her from the container roof above.“Selena!” Kael’s voice was smooth, cutting through the storm. “Choose now, or your father dies!”Her body froze. The world seemed to tilt, spinning around her. Leon’s head snapped toward her even as bullets rained around him. His voice was raw. “Don’t you dare listen to him!”Gregory groaned beside her, his face p

The villa was heavy with silence. Outside, the waves crashed hard against the cliffs. Inside, the air felt thick, every shadow darker than it should have been.Selena sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the envelope in her drawer. She had hidden it again, but she could feel its weight even from here. Proof of her father’s betrayal. Proof of her own.Her father’s voice still echoed in her head: “Don’t do it, Selena. Don’t give him Leon.”But Kael’s words drowned it out: “Tomorrow night. The shipyard. Or your father dies.”Her hands shook in her lap. She whispered to herself, “There has to be another way.” But no answer came.A knock sounded on her door. She flinched. “Selena,” Leon’s voice said, deep and steady. “We’re leaving in an hour.”She forced her voice calm. “Where?”“To hunt Kael,” Leon replied. “I think I know where he’ll strike next.”Her blood ran cold. He didn’t know he was walking straight into Kael’s trap.Downstairs, Jason checked his weapons with quiet curses under

The night was cold, the sea whispering against the cliffs as Selena stood frozen before the black car.Kael’s tall frame blocked the open door. His silver eyes gleamed like a predator in the moonlight. Every part of him looked calm, controlled, but Selena could feel the storm of power beneath his stillness. “You came,” Kael said softly. “I knew you would.”Selena’s chest rose and fell quickly. Her voice trembled. “Where is my father?”Kael tilted his head slightly, as if amused by her fear. “Alive. For now. But his life, Selena, depends entirely on you.”Her hands curled into fists at her sides. She hated how weak she sounded when she whispered, “What do you want from me?”Kael smiled faintly. “Step inside. And I will show you.”Selena’s body screamed not to move. Every instinct told her this was a trap. But her father’s face, bloodied, bruised, dragged away, flashed in her mind. She forced herself forward.The car door shut behind her with a heavy thud. The interior smelled of leath

The storm broke at dawn. Rain hammered against the villa’s tall windows, running in heavy streams down the glass. Thunder rolled over the cliffs, shaking the walls. Lightning flashed across the horizon, casting the sea in silver and shadow.Inside, the atmosphere was just as stormy. Leon stood in the study, shoulders tight, staring at the maps spread across the table. He didn’t move, didn’t speak. The only sound in the room was the ticking of the old clock on the wall.Jason leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. His eyes flicked between Leon and the storm outside. Finally, he muttered, “You’re wound so tight, boss, I can hear your teeth grinding.”Leon didn’t answer. His jaw flexed, his eyes locked on the map, but Jason knew he hadn’t seen a single line on it in the last hour.Eira entered quietly, her presence soft but sharp at the same time. She held a folder in her hand, damp from the rain. “Satellite confirmed Kael’s convoy moving east last night,” she said. “Toward the bo