The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) (41 page)

In the lobby, hundreds of Scorpions and Skulls were going to war against Serpents and Siberian Tigers. Dead bodies dropped down to the floor at an accelerated rate, screams occupied the lobby at its highest octaves while blood smeared every inch of the building. Everywhere Yoori turned, there was blood; everywhere she turned, there was death.

“Bosses!” Jae Won shouted out of habit once he saw Tae Hyun and Yoori emerge from the door. He was fighting with four Skulls, easily overpowering them with bone-cracking punches that left them collapsing to the floor.

Kang Min was in the back, snapping the necks of four Scorpions. Across from him, Mina, Ace, and the rest of Tae Hyun’s Cobras were jumping all around the walls, bouncing off desks and pillars while shooting down their adversaries.

Chaos.

Complete chaos gripped the lobby.

It was complete chaos, and all Tae Hyun cared about was getting Yoori, who was getting paler and paler by the second, to a hospital.

Still holding her firm against his body, Tae Hyun leaned down and whispered, “Stay with me, okay, Brat? We’re almost out—”

“Boss!” Ace bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Watch out!”

It was too late.

The baseball bat that Young Jae wielded already made contact with the back of Tae Hyun’s head.

Bam!

“Augh!”

“Tae Hyun!” Yoori cried, her eyes widening once she heard the sound of metal colliding with the back of his skull.

Pushing her aside so that he wouldn’t fall on her, Tae Hyun stumbled to the ground. Young Jae stood behind him with smug pride while Yoori tried to fight past the wooziness that was overtaking her. Keen on capitalizing on Tae Hyun’s weakened state, Young Jae jabbed the baseball bat into his stomach and then used the bat to give Tae Hyun an uppercut to the jaw. Blood oozed from Tae Hyun’s mouth as he collapsed to the ground beside Yoori.

Though fatigue was riding her, Yoori was too infuriated with Young Jae’s cowardly attack on Tae Hyun. It was one thing to go after her, but it was another thing entirely to go after Tae Hyun. She was determined to make him pay for his offense. Without warning, she whipped her leg up and kicked Young Jae in the throat. Young Jae could barely let out a breath as he fell off balance. The baseball bat slipped from his grasp and clinked onto the floor as he attempted to maintain his equilibrium.

His furious eyes sharpened on her once he straightened himself up. A cold smirk crossed his lips. 

“You’ve waited a long time for this moment, haven’t you, little sis?” Young Jae accused, spitting out blood from his mouth. He began to circle her slowly, dangerously. “To murder me?”

“You should die for what you did to our father,” she spat out, using all the strength she had to keep herself awake, to keep from going unconscious. She could not succumb to weakness at a moment like this. She could not be human when she was in the middle of an Underworld war. At the moment, her biggest enemy was standing in front of her. It would be a cold day in hell before she allowed herself to black out now. 

“He deserved to die.”

The anger inside her erupted. She had been patient with him long enough. It was time the bastard paid for everything he had done.

“He’s our father!” she shrieked, lunging at Young Jae like a bloodthirsty lion.

They went after each other with all the strength they had. She performed a spin kick that left him reeling to the side for a brief second before he punched her across the face. Soon, they were dueling all across the busy lobby, punching and kicking one another without mercy.

“You manipulated Ho Young!” she shouted after she grabbed the back of his head and banged it against a pillar. All the hatred and disappointment she harbored for Young Jae came bursting out. “
My
brother!
Your
brother! You manipulated our brother to help you kill our father! Our family is ruined because of your jealousy!”

“He fucking betrayed me!” he yelled, blocking a punch from her. As if a douse of adrenaline had trickled into his body at the reminder, the bloodlust in Young Jae’s eyes increased. He kicked her across the face as though he was kicking his own father.

Blood shot out of Yoori’s mouth. Despite the affliction, she continued to pour out her feelings, her resentment.

“He raised you!” she combated. It still amazed her that he felt like he did nothing wrong. It still astounded her that he was playing the victim. In spite of the blood that was coursing from her bullet wound, she fought him harder. “It doesn’t matter what he was planning to give me. He still loved you and raised you! Why can’t you understand that?!”

Her father wasn’t the perfect man, and she knew that. Despite this human flaw, she also knew that he loved his children. He may have been too ambitious with them at times, but he loved them and raised them nonetheless. She would forever be grateful for that. She would forever be in her father’s debt for that, and in turn, she would forever hate Young Jae for killing him—just out of pure jealousy.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Young Jae contested. Misery started to pour out of his voice. “He didn’t betray you. He didn’t crush your heart.”

“But you made sure to crush his,” Yoori provided brokenly. “You made sure he would die in the worst way possible: being shot down by his own sons.” She laughed to herself. “How would you feel if your own child did that to you, big brother? How would you feel if your own child brought that type of misery upon you?”

Anguish immersed in Young Jae’s eyes as he listened to her words. Whether or not he took in what she said, she would never know. Before she could utter another word, Tae Hyun had gotten up and kicked him across the face, thereby ending their conversation.

As she watched Tae Hyun go after Young Jae, Yoori could feel the last of her energy leave her body. Every inch of her body was throbbing and she could no longer feel the strength in her legs. She was close to going limp before a bloodcurdling scream arrested her attention.

“Boss!” Kang Min screamed at the top of his lungs. “Watch out!”

At Kang Min’s warning, Yoori ducked when she felt a whiff of air run over her. A sword swiped over the air where her neck would have been. When the sword reverted its aim, she stood upright and punched the attacker across the face. She caught the sword that slipped from his grasp and proceeded to swing the blade forward, slicing his head off as though it was fabric. Warm blood splattered over her face as the severed head fell down beside her feet. Yoori stumbled back while wiping the blood from her face. She could slowly feel her energy deplete. Although she was running on no fuel, she was determined to keep fighting for as long as she could.

Her eyes peered over to Tae Hyun.

There was no missing the fury that poured from Tae Hyun as he bashed Young Jae against the wall. There was no denying the anger as Tae Hyun body-slammed him to the floor, and there was no refuting the hatred as he kicked Young Jae across the lobby. He had not forgotten that Young Jae was the one who took a shot at him, nor had he forgotten that Young Jae was the one who put a bullet in Yoori’s arm.

The crowd parted ways for Tae Hyun like he was a living God, giving him free reign to go after Young Jae on an uninterrupted stage. There were a few Scorpions who attempted to intervene to save their King, but Tae Hyun would not tolerate the interruption. As they tried to fight him, Tae Hyun would easily snap their necks and step over their dead bodies in an effort to go after Young Jae with unrelenting determination. 

Though he didn’t need it, Yoori was ready to go help him in her dazed state. Out of nowhere, someone else stole her attention. On the opposite end of the crowded lobby, she sighted Anna next to a pillar. Yoori’s blood boiled while her feral eyes raked over Anna. The wooziness she experienced vacated, leaving behind a conflagration of rage that she could no longer contain.

The one who betrayed her was right there, right in front of her.

She wished that she had left Anna to die all those years ago, but now, fate had connected them together once more. Only this time, she would not be a God and save Anna’s life. Today, she would be the Queen she was raised to be and take Anna’s life. Anna had failed to repay her debt to Yoori and as such, it was only right that she gave Anna the ultimate punishment for this failure. 

Her resolve set, Yoori clenched her fists in anticipation and took slow, predatory steps towards Anna.

Unaware that her former Queen was stalking after her, Anna’s eyes roamed the lobby in sheer panic. Her eyes enlarged when she found the person she was looking for. Horror consumed her when she observed that Young Jae was fighting with Tae Hyun and that he was surely losing. Desperate to help her husband, Anna reached behind the pillar and yanked someone out.

Yoori’s blood went cold after Anna pulled Hae Jin out by the collar of her neck. Blood poured from Hae Jin’s mouth while a big swelling covered her left eye.

“Hae Jin,” Yoori whispered, stunned to see her in this state.

“Hae Jin!” Kang Min shouted the instant he saw what Anna had done to her.

He ran forward, intent on saving her. He stopped in his tracks when Anna went behind Hae Jin and looped her arm around Hae Jin’s neck. Anna held Hae Jin in a headlock while she pressed a black gun to the bottom of her chin.

“Kwon Tae Hyun!” Anna screeched from the top of her lungs, her eyes unblinking with rage and desperation. She could not take her eyes off her husband, who was barely conscious as Tae Hyun continued to beat him half to death. She tightened her grip around Hae Jin’s neck. “Let Young Jae go or I’m blowing her brains out!”

Tae Hyun could not hear her. Her voice was lost under the roar of flying bullets, murderous screams, and sounds of skulls and bones cracking. Tae Hyun continued to fight Young Jae, unaware that Anna was holding his sister hostage.

“Anna, don’t!” Jae Won screamed. Desperate to appeal to her humane side, he revealed, “She’s pregnant!”

Anna either didn’t listen or didn’t care. Her frantic eyes were solely on her husband. He was all that mattered to her.

Kang Min, on the other hand, was rocked by this revelation.

“Hae Jin!” Kang Min screamed, all rationale escaping him. All he had left was instinct, all he had left was desperation. He tried to run to her, to perhaps knock Anna down before she could do anything to Hae Jin. He was several feet from Anna when three Skulls appeared out of nowhere and attacked him. They got close to knifing him before he blew up in rage. He grabbed the knife from the one closest to him and went berserk, cutting into their faces and necks without discrimination. He was covered in blood when they all crumpled to the ground. “Hae Jin!”

As Kang Min’s manic screams tore through Tae Hyun’s ears, he stopped dead in his tracks. Tae Hyun whipped around. The blood drained from his face when he saw that his little sister was held hostage with a gun to her chin. She was struggling to breathe with the grip Anna held around her neck.

“Hae Jin!” he called, abandoning Young Jae like he was a day’s old trash. He plowed through the crowd, running to his sister at full speed.

Thrilled that Tae Hyun was finally away from her husband and right where she needed him to be, Anna forcefully tossed Hae Jin to the side, nearly causing Hae Jin to slam face-first into the ground. Fortunately, Kang Min caught Hae Jin in time. While Kang Min hugged Hae Jin and pulled her away from Anna, Anna raised her gun and aimed it at Tae Hyun, who was still running towards Hae Jin.

It happened in a split second. It happened on impulse.

A fear unlike any other spread throughout Yoori. Without even thinking about her actions, she sped towards Anna with the velocity of a predatory cheetah. She bent her knees and rolled on the ground with her sword in hand. Before Anna could pull the trigger, Yoori rolled up in a half-crouch, gripped the sword with both of her hands, and plunged it backwards, piercing the blade through Anna’s stomach.

Swish!

“Augh . . .”

Clack!

Anna’s gun dropped.

“Anna!”

Shocked silence poured through the lobby after Young Jae’s bloodcurdling scream shook the building.

Yoori turned. She watched in silence as tears filled Anna’s eyes when she realized that she had been stabbed through the stomach. Shaking while her eyes grew wide with tears, Anna slipped out of the sword’s grip. A trail of blood dripped from the blade before she stumbled to the floor. Gasping for air, she laid in a fetal position, cradling her stomach as blood pooled around her. 

A horrific realization cascaded over Yoori as she watched Anna cradle her stomach, as she watched Young Jae run towards his wife with tears clouding his eyes. Anna was not cradling her stomach because of the pain; she was cradling her stomach because of what was growing inside it.

Yoori’s world tilted on its axis.

Anna was pregnant.

Anna was pregnant with her brother’s child.

She just killed her brother’s wife . . . and his unborn child.

The torrent of guilt that engulfed her was crippling, blinding. She fell to the ground, dropping the bloody sword while staring at her brother and his now dying wife in shock. What had she done?

“Anna, why the hell did you come?! I told you not to come!” Young Jae cried, holding his wife in his arms. A stream of tears poured from his agonized eyes. “Anna . . . Please, baby. Please stay with me.”