All Chapters of Rune System: The Crimson Knight: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
13 chapters
CHAPTER ONE
“You, there! Waiter!” The harsh voice, followed by the impatient snapping of fingers, jerked Dominic out of his lofty daydream. He traced the command to a table in the center of the large room, weaving swiftly around others as he made his way to the customer. “Good day,” Dominic began calmly. “You called for—?” “This was not what I ordered,” the man stated curtly, cutting Dominic off without remorse. For emphasis, he dropped his plate rather aggressively on the table, causing the ceramic to clatter loudly with the cutlery. “Well…” Dominic scratched the back of his neck. “What was it you ordered, sir?” The man—quite young from his facial appearance—frowned with a raised eyebrow. “Are you dumb? My steak is overcooked, the asparagus is charred, the sauce has less cheese and too much spice, and the cranberry is too sour.” He waved his hands over his food like he was trying to cast a spell. “This is definitely not what I ordered.” Dominic cleared
CHAPTER TWO
“Please don’t fire me, Mr. Bowers. I’ll do better, I promise. Just… please, sir. I really need this job.” Twenty minutes after the humiliating scene, Dominic found himself on his knees in Fredrick’s cozy office on the upper floor. He’d grabbed his “things”—which only included his backpack containing his hoodie and worn-out jeans—and immediately resorted to begging when he entered the room, failing to recognize his own desperate voice as he knew all too well that he couldn’t afford to lose his job. On the other hand, Fredrick massaged his temples like he was silently nursing a headache. Moments later, after heaving a sigh, he finally spoke. “Get off the floor, boy. I didn’t call you in here to have you beg. Nor do I have plans to replace you just yet.” Wearing a confused frown, Dominic slowly got to his feet. “You’re not… going to fire me?” “Just because a billionaire’s son asked me to?” Fredrick gave a short laugh. “Hell, no. Now, sit.” Dominic, sti
CHAPTER THREE
“Veronica?” Dominic finally managed to get his vocal cords to work. “I thought… I didn’t know you’d come back to New York. I thought you were still in college.” Standing in a fitted, glittering green dress with her long, light brown hair styled to flow over one shoulder, she gave a small shrug as she looked away. “I was in Canada for a while. I still am, in a way. I only returned briefly because…” Her voice trailed off. “Because…?” Dominic questioned with a step forward. He didn’t know what drew his eyes to her hands, but the sparkling, diamond-encrusted ring adorning her forefinger was incredibly hard to miss. Dominic frowned at the sight of it, his confused gaze angling back towards her face. “Veronica—” He never got to start his sentence. A solid blow suddenly landed on the right side of his face, promptly knocking him off balance. As he landed painfully on the steps, his head still spinning, Gregory hovered over him like an angry tower, his green eyes emitting
CHAPTER FOUR
“Mr. Croft. I was just about to come looking for you.” The bald elderly man, whose face had wrinkled into a permanent scowl, stared up at Dominic with a squint, ignoring his polite tone. “Seems like someone else got to you, huh?” he pointed out with a shaky finger. “That’s what you get for having unresolved debts all over the place.” “Oh!” Dominic exclaimed, realizing the old man was referring to the bruises on his face. “No, no. This wasn’t because of a debt. Believe me.” “And believe me, I couldn’t care less,” the old man said. He gestured to two, large identical men who stood like bodyguards behind him, silent and brooding. “I believe you’ve met my sons, Sonny and Tommy.” “Not really.” Dominic nodded to them. “Nice to meet you both.” Either they were instructed to remain quiet entirely, or they hated meeting new people, because all they did was glower at Dominic like they had an eternal beef with his bloodline. “You reckon?” Croft asked with
CHAPTER FIVE
“Shit,” Anya cursed. “Language,” Dominic called out from the kitchen. He rinsed his hands in the sink and toweled them dry, tugging his backpack higher as he prepared to leave. “What’s up?” “Mom’s having one of those spasm episodes again.” “Shit,” Dominic muttered instantly. He hurried out of the kitchen and nearly stumbled in the narrow hallway, banging the wooden frame of the doorway with his shoulder as he came to a grinding halt at the entrance of the bedroom. Anya sat straight in her wheelchair, her hair pegged back in a neat ponytail, as her glassy eyes probed her brother. “Language,” she reminded him. Dominic’s gaze flew to the bed before his sister. Partly covered by white sheets, their mother thrashed around with closed eyes, but only slightly. It was still an unsettling sight to behold, so Dominic couldn’t figure out why Anya was so calm. “It seems like a light episode compared to the others Mom has had,” she explained, as if readin
CHAPTER SIX
“Oh, damn. Dominic? Is that you?” Pausing at the broad steps to the entrance of the Grand Palace, Dominic raised an eyebrow at the surprised faces of Lucas and Finn, who stood in their full valet uniforms, posted at the revolving doors like the day before. “Do you know anyone else who looks like shit?” he asked grimly. “No, no. That’s not what I meant,” Finn explained apologetically with raised hands. “It’s just that…” His voice tuned out as he looked to Lucas for support. “What he means to say,” he continued coolly, “is that we’re both surprised to see you here and on your feet. Especially after… you know… what happened yesterday.” Dominic snorted as he continued ascending the steps. “It’s not like I was shot in the face or took a missile to the chest. Besides, I’ve survived a beat down before.” He stood before his colleagues, bearing their stares of scrutiny as their eyes ran over his dirty T-shirt, torn jeans, and soiled sneakers. “Bro,” F
CHAPTER SEVEN
“What the hell is going on here?” Dominic’s whisper morphed into a silent echo as he stepped into the large, empty hall. It was late morning, he knew that for sure, so he couldn’t understand why the Royal Diner was as abandoned as a haunted house when it was supposed to be a bustling spot of activity. No patient diners, no smiling waiters, no serenading music or ambient lighting. Just eerie silence and chairs stacked neatly on circular tables. “Interesting, isn’t it, Heathley?” Dominic froze at the sound of the voice coming from his far left—partly because he didn’t expect it, but mostly because he recognized the scornful baritone all too well. “For you, things like this are phenomenal,” Gregory continued as he stepped out of the shadow of a thick, brick pillar, wearing a three-piece brown cashmere suit and a wicked smile. “The fact that I was able to buy the majority of shares of this restaurant in just a few minutes and shut it down immediately afterw
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Nooo!!” Dominic’s scream barely rose above the pouring rain as he rushed toward the discarded items on the sidewalk. After almost two hours of half-running, half-limping, he’d finally arrived at his apartment building, albeit drenched and exhausted enough to pass out. But he forgot all his pains when he saw his family’s belongings on the roadside, getting mercilessly beaten by the rain. He’d stopped dead in his tracks at first, hardly believing the sight before his eyes. But when he spotted his sister’s wheelchair, twisted and broken as if it were thrown from the first floor, adrenaline immediately surged in his veins. Even worse, there was no sign of his sister or mother anywhere. As much as he didn’t want to believe that they were left in the downpour, Dominic had reasons to believe that these men could be that heartless. Gregory, Croft… these were people who did as they pleased without considering how others would deal with the consequences. And no o
CHAPTER NINE
“The rain,” Dominic observed as he glanced up. “It has finally stopped.” He looked down at his mother, crushed by how sick and fragile she looked. “We need to get you to the hospital. Maybe, while you rest and recover, I’ll find Anya.” With her hands still closed, Erica Heathley tapped a small device on her son’s thigh. When he looked down, Dominic noticed a cellphone in her hand, taking it from her grasp. “They… left this,” she informed him. “They wanted you to… have it.” It was soaking wet, but most phones were already waterproof anyway, so Dominic wasn’t surprised to see it switch on when he pushed the power button. What surprised—and horrified—him was the crackling audio that played from it. “Greetings, Mr. Heathley,” a masculine voice droned. “On behalf of the boss, we decided to pay you a little visit earlier today, concerning the agreement you had with him a couple of months ago. Sadly, we didn’t get to meet you, but we found your little sister in
CHAPTER TEN
“Hold it right there, kid.” Dominic did as he was told, halting a few centimeters from a towering steel gate. Two men, dressed in full gear like SWAT officers, stood behind the bars, scowling at him like he’d stolen their dinner. “This place is off limits, kid,” the first man continued in his gruff voice. “Run along before you get hurt.” “Come on, Rowan,” the second one said, with a lazy hand on the automatic rifle hanging from his shoulder. “You don’t have to make us look bad by threatening him like that. What do you mean by ‘before you get hurt’?” “Besides,” he went on as he stepped closer and peered at Dominic, “he already looks like shit. What happened to you, kid? Bike crash?” “Shut up, Derek,” Rowan scolded. He stood taller and possessed a more menacing physique, in addition to the intimidating demeanor he displayed. “Don’t engage the kid. Keep your dumb curiosity at bay this time.” “I’m not a kid,” Dominic said quietly. “And I’m here to see m