THE XAVIER RISK
last update2025-12-17 00:11:27

The picture hit the screen and made the room go quiet.

It wasn’t a dramatic photo. It was grainy, taken from a distance at Westmar Port. A man in plain clothes stood between a bribe and a rifle, calm enough to look annoying. Yet something in his posture felt wrong, like the camera had caught a predator pretending to be harmless.

Brigadier general Darius Herold, son of General Marcus Herold leaned back in his chair and stared at it without blinking. The Verdanis skyline glowed behind him through the glass wall of his penthouse office, but he didn’t look at the city. He looked at the man.

His aide, captain Lorne, stood across the desk with a tablet clutched in both hands. “He triggered a federal audit,” Lorne said. “It happened fast. Helicopters. A port-wide lock. The supervisor panicked.”

Darius’s voice was soft. “A nobody did that?”

Lorne hesitated. “That’s the thing, sir. The port inspectors tried to detain him. They were ready to kill him. He broke two of them down like they were tr
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  • BOUNTY AT GRACE HAVEN

    The shift was immediate.The soldiers stopped laughing. Their eyes changed, no longer on Rosa or the hallway upstairs, but locked on Ethan like hunters spotting rare prey. The room felt smaller, tighter, as if the walls themselves were closing in.Finn’s smile widened, slow and satisfied. “Do you boys realize how lucky we are?” he asked, turning to his men. “The man who crippled the Westmar Port operation is standing right here. No tracking. No chase.”One soldier straightened. “You mean the Titan Crest mess?”Finn nodded. “That one. Darius Herold put a price on his head after that.” He glanced back at Ethan. “Alive.”Ethan didn’t move, but his breathing slowed. “So this was never about the girl,” he said. “You just needed an excuse to walk into a place like this.”Finn laughed softly. “We didn't plan to get you here but as fate will have it, here we are, with a precious soon to be prisoner of Darius Herold. However that Rosa girl was convenient. You?” His eyes gleamed. “You’re valuab

  • A PRIZE OR A PERSON

    Lieutenant Felix Finn’s smile stayed in place, but his eyes were sharp.He stood in the orphanage reception area like he belonged there, like the worn couches and children’s drawings on the wall were beneath him. Two armed men lingered near the door. Another watched the hallway that led deeper into the building. The insignia on their uniforms caught the light every time they shifted.Ethan kept his face calm, but his stomach tightened. This wasn’t a government unit. This was a private force with a chain of command that didn’t answer to law.Finn spoke again, smooth and casual. “I’m looking for a modest young woman. About eighteen. Pretty. Quiet. You know the type.” His eyes swept the room. “Perhaps you’ve seen her.”Ethan took one step forward and stopped at a polite distance. “I understand you think you earned something,” he said. “But the girl you’re talking about is a person. Not property.”Finn blinked once, like he couldn’t believe Ethan, a bloody civilian was trying to reason wi

  • WHEN WAR KNOCKS AT THE DOOR

    Mama Ruth’s face had changed. A moment ago she was calm, speaking about war and power, but now her eyes were sharp and alert. Rosa stood in front of her, shaking like a leaf. The tension in the hallway pressed against everyone, and Ethan felt a cold weight settle on his chest. Whatever this trouble was, it had reached their doorstep.Mama Ruth guided Rosa into a small sitting room near the corridor. The room was quiet except for Rosa’s crying. Ethan stood near the window, his arms were folded, watching her. “Tell us what happened,” Mama Ruth said, her tone was firm. Rosa wiped her tears and tried to breathe. “Start from the beginning.”“I went to my uncle’s place,” Rosa said, her voice uneven. “He was promoted again. Three ranks in one month. Everyone came to celebrate. I helped with decorations and cooking. He told me he wanted me and my best friend to leave the orphanage and live with him because life would be better now.”Ethan exchanged a look with Mama Ruth. “And you believed h

  • FALSE PEACE, REAL DANGER

    Mama Ruth’s smile was small, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “He was not wrong,” she said. “Within the next two decades, war in this country will be inevitable.”Ethan’s shoulders tensed. “War between who?”“Between people who want your fortunes, Xavier loyalists,” Mama Ruth said. “And people who want to turn everyone else into servants.”Ethan’s voice stayed controlled. “And me being on the Xavier throne keeps them in check.”“For now,” Mama Ruth replied. “Your authority creates a balance. But it is a false peace.”Ethan looked back at the Seraphine Bloom. “So you think the disease you warned about is part of this war.”Mama Ruth’s eyes narrowed, like she was about to answer with something dangerous. “Yes,” she began. “Because the cleanest wars don’t start with bombs. They start with—”A voice cut through the hallway outside the room.“Mama Ruth!”Another voice followed, louder, panicked. “Mama Ruth, please there is trouble!”Mama Ruth’s face changed instantly. The softness vanished. S

  • THE PALACE THAT LOST ITS SOUL

    Mama Ruth didn’t flinch when Ethan asked the question, but her eyes went far away, like she was looking at a door she had locked a long time ago.“You think I chose this life because I was weak?” she asked quietly. “Because I was unlucky?”Ethan’s throat worked as he swallowed. “I think it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “Magnus Xavier’s wife living here, hiding medicine in a wardrobe, raising children who aren’t hers the depending on the Goodwill of others to survive is something I don't quite understand.”Mama Ruth folded her hands in front of her apron. “Magnus did not become a monster overnight,” she said. “He became one decision at a time.”Ethan stared at her. “My grandfather was respected across the continent.”“He was feared,” she corrected. “And fear can look like respect when you’re rich.”Ethan’s jaw tightened. “What changed him?”Mama Ruth turned her head slightly, like she was listening for footsteps even though the hall was quiet. “He started acting strange long before he

  • THE SECRET BEHIND THE ORPHANAGE DOOR

    Mama Ruth’s eyes didn’t look old at that moment. They looked like they had been waiting for this exact second for years.Ethan stood in front of the glowing case, the blue light washing over his bruised knuckles and the cut near his lip.“You said it’s medicine,” Ethan said quietly. “Medicine for what?”Mama Ruth kept her voice low. “For what is coming.”Ethan let out a short breath, forcing patience. “What’s coming, Mama Ruth? A sickness? A war? You’re talking like you’ve already lived it.”“I have lived enough,” she answered. “And I have seen patterns that repeat when wicked people get greedy.”Ethan looked at the seven stalks again, glowing deep blue above the gold sand. “Seraphine Bloom,” he repeated, testing the name. “It’s beautiful. But beauty doesn’t stop death.”Mama Ruth nodded once, like she respected his doubt. “In some years from now, when I am not alive,” she said, “a disease will break out. It will spread across this continent like fire that won’t listen to prayer.”Eth

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