The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (45 page)

“You k
new Ji Hoon was helping Soo Jin,” Yoori stated unknowingly, realizing Soo Jin’s error in judgment. Though Soo Jin kept crucial information to herself, there were still enough holes in her plan that if someone were to have even one piece of the missing puzzle, they would be able to decipher what she was up to. The puzzle piece that Young Jae had was Anna. It was clear to Yoori that if Soo Jin had known about Anna’s relationship with her brother, then she would not have involved the girl in her plans to take over the Underworld and kill her own brother. Now, Young Jae not only knew that Soo Jin had faked her suicide attempt, he also knew of Ji Hoon’s involvement in giving her the formula.

“He isn’t aware that I know,
” Young Jae provided. He took another sip of his champagne. There was revulsion in his voice that he didn’t try to conceal. “The thing with Ji Hoon is that his love for Soo Jin blinds him in so many ways. He put on a wonderful show about not wanting you to remember anything because of your ‘suicidal’ tendencies, but I imagine he was only against you getting your memories back because he didn’t want to deal with you fighting him for the throne. You see, the original plan was for Ji Hoon to come for you after I injected you with the ‘poison.’” Young Jae chuckled, smiling proudly to his ingenious plan. “Of course, he couldn’t have anticipated me throwing in a disfigured corpse and playing it off as you. The bastard really thought you had died.”

His dark eyes bore into hers. It was a look that reminded Yoori of a
lion’s predatory gaze before it was ready to annihilate its prey.

“You’ve always had a
God-complex. You’ve always believed that you’re the one pulling all the strings when in truth, your biggest weakness has always been your underestimation of people.” His face hardened in animosity. “I suppose it was my fault. I spoiled you too much as my right-hand soldier. All Ju Won had to do was whisper a couple of things into your ear and you were all in, ready to betray me of all people.”

“You didn’t come back to take me home with you,” Yoori
said brokenly, knowing very well where the conversation was headed. All along, the comfort she took in her relationship with her brother was that he loved her and wanted to protect her at all costs. Yoori knew now that all of that was merely a ploy to gain her trust. It was a lie used to lead her into this trap. “That night, when you grabbed me from Ju Won’s mansion, when you tried to pry me from Tae Hyun, you were trying to get me away from the estate so that you could kill me.”

It dawned on her that
Young Jae never hated Tae Hyun or preferred Ji Hoon over Tae Hyun. He only hated Tae Hyun because Yoori was under Tae Hyun’s protection. That was why Young Jae expressed so much hatred toward Tae Hyun, because he was trying to break them apart so he could have Yoori at his mercy.

“I should’ve snapp
ed your neck when you kneeled before me, staring up at me while devising a way to kill me so that you could inherit the Siberian Tigers’ throne,” he snarled, confirming her suspicions that he knew what Soo Jin was up to. “I didn’t kill you then because I was still weakened by the fact that you’re my sister. I was weakened by the fact that you’re my own flesh and blood.” His eyes grew sterner, ice penetrating them. “But I won’t make the same mistake. I won’t let you get away this time, little one.”

It
occurred so fast that Yoori didn’t see them coming.

In a
second, two of the Scorpions were standing quietly beside her and in the next, they were inches closer to her, raising the bowls they were still holding.

Bang!

One slammed the bowl against her head, the jagged edges of the bowl eating away at her skin. The other stabbed his foot into her gut, causing her to gasp out for air. Before giving her a chance to catch her breath, the one who slammed the bowl across her head kneed her against the nose. Blood spurted from her nose as the back of her head collided against the wall behind her. Excruciating pain clawed at the nerves in her body. Yoori struggled to apply pressure against her head while hunching over and pressing her shaking hand over her bloody nose.

It was happening.

Young Jae was punishing her for Soo Jin’s sins.

The Cobras punished her
previously, but she knew just by the strength imparted from her brother’s Scorpions that she was dealing with another level of assault. Her body was in for a world of pain and the instinctive part of her—the survival part of her—was begging her to get up and fight back.

Despite her desperation,
Yoori did not allow Soo Jin’s instincts to take over. Everything that was happening
. . .
she deserved it all.

Yoori stared up at her brother
in anguish. The breathing of the bodyguards became nothing but background noise when she locked eyes with Young Jae.

A fear unlike any other consumed her: the fear of death.

Yoori knew that she deserved all of this. She wanted to take it all in stride because she felt that it was something she owed her brother. However, the more the pain became apparent on her body, the more desperate she became.

The image of Tae Hyun’s handsome face, the warmth of his love
, and the happiness that ran through her whenever she was around him overtook Yoori’s thoughts. She didn’t want to die. Although she hated her life, the one thing she loved more than anything was Tae Hyun. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him. She had no idea where he was or if he was near. With the rate of how things were going, she was afraid she would be dead before he arrived to save her.

“Please,
” Yoori implored. The pleading word escaped from her lips before she could catch it. For the first time, she found herself begging for her life. Desperation shackled her. “Please
. . .
” Her voice broke. “Please, just leave me alone. I wasn’t the one who did all those things to you.”

As if slapped across the face,
the inescapable reality of the situation he was in caused Young Jae’s eyes to soften slightly. He stared down at her and, to her surprise, he acknowledged her plea.

“I wanted to save you, Yoori,” he told her, the tone in
his voice worsening her fears. He wasn’t going to yield on the punishment he planned to give her. Anguish etched his voice while he spoke to her. “When I danced with you at Ju Won’s mansion, I saw my baby sister. I saw the person she was destined to be if she hadn’t been corrupted by Ju Won.”

H
e smiled resentfully to himself. He knew well that although he was punishing Soo Jin’s body, it was someone else who was paying for her sins.

“Soo Jin was a backstabbing ingrate
, but the irony of this entire situation is you, Yoori. Soo Jin made her bed, but I’m sorry that you have to lie in it. I’m sorry that you have to pay for all her wrongdoings. I’m sorry that it’s you I have to punish.”

“I’ll stay away from you,
” she pledged desperately. Tears bubbled in her widened eyes. “I won’t come near you.” Her terrified heart raced while trying to take its last breath. “Please don’t kill me.”

There was no courage in her voice. She wasn’t afraid to die with the Cobras because with them, she took a life and it was more than fair that they
took hers as well. With Young Jae, though the guilt of Soo Jin attempting to murder him haunted her, Yoori didn’t feel the same fairness existed in the situation she was in. She may have deserved the punishment, but that didn’t mean she was ready for death. It didn’t mean that she was ready to leave Tae Hyun. Her heart ached at the prospect of never seeing him again. She didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye to him
. . .

“I saw you flinch when Anna touched you the other night,”
Young Jae whispered, the regretful tone in his voice wishing that Yoori hadn’t done so. Perhaps if she hadn’t reacted in that manner, all of this may have turned out differently. “You may not remember anything, but your instincts are more than alive and well. It’s only a matter of time before you regain your memories; it’s only a matter of time before you come after Anna for her betrayal. I know how Soo Jin is. I know how ruthless she is when she wants someone dead. I can’t let you live and risk you coming after the woman I love. I can’t risk you picking up where you left off and coming after me.”

H
e sighed, pushing the empty champagne glass away from him. It was a silent prelude of the things to come.

“You provoked all of this, little sis
ter. I would’ve had your back until the end if you hadn’t betrayed me first. I would’ve protected you with my life if you hadn’t conspired with Ju Won. But now that it’s all said and done, the only thing left to do is for me to return the favor and punish you as I would any other Scorpion who dared to betray me. I can’t allow you to live when your death will set the precedence to anyone else who would ever think of betraying me.”

“Why did you go through
the trouble of hiding me in Taecin if you wanted me dead this much?” Yoori inquired, feeling the blood seep from her nose and head.

The blood
dripped onto the wet tiles beneath her as her mind churned with questions. It didn’t make sense to her. Wasn’t this the life Young Jae wanted for her? Wasn’t this the life he gave her?

Oppres
sive silence hung over the room.

Y
oung Jae stared quietly at her. It was as if he was debating about whether or not he should answer that question. After a long pause, he finally parted his lips and said words that Yoori couldn’t have anticipated hearing.

“
. . .
I wasn’t the one who hid you.”

The breath lod
ged in Yoori’s lungs. “What?”

Before her thought process could lengthen, a loud sound emerged from
the doors of the restaurant. Seconds later, the roaring of gunshots blasted through the room.

Yoori’s ears nearly blasted apart from the sudden breakage in silence.

Like wild tigers, Mina and Ace sprung into the restaurant, each holding silver guns. Their vigilant, predatory eyes charted the restaurant. When they spotted Yoori and saw the ones around her, they started firing at everyone but Yoori.

Two loud grunts sang into the air, ca
using Yoori to jump in her seat. Warm blood splatters spilled upon her face and body.

The two
male Scorpions were shot, the bullets burying into their foreheads and exiting through the back of their heads. Dying with their eyes wide open, the two Scorpions collapsed to the floor. One nearly landed on a horrified Yoori. She would’ve been buried under his weight if she hadn’t scrambled away in time.

“PC!” Young Jae shouted in the background, whipping up from his seat. He
withdrew two black guns from behind his back and fired at Ace and Mina. The two Cobras jumped away before the bullets pierced through their heads. Using the moment of peace to his advantage, Young Jae turned to his right-hand man. “Take Anna back with you. I’ll deal with the Serpents.”

“Young Jae, I’m not leaving you!” Anna fought, standing
up with him.

“Anna,” Young Jae spoke urgently.
“Our agreement for you to come back to Seoul was for you to leave whenever I tell you to leave. You’re leaving with PC and you’re going now.”

“But—”

“I’ll be fine,” Young Jae interrupted. He placed his guns on the table and cupped her worried face in his hands. “Just go first. I still need to take care of Soo Jin.”

Anna
did not get to say anything else before PC pulled her away. While they ran out through the back exit, Young Jae grabbed his guns and jumped over the bar of the restaurant. With the bar as his shield, he leaned over and started firing at Mina and Ace.

The two Cobras used the
doorway they entered as shields and were firing back at Young Jae. They were careful not to hit Yoori.

Still reel
ing from what she discovered from her brother—and finally processing that she was now covered in the blood of others—Yoori did her best to hold on to the last shred of her sanity. Momentarily flustered, Yoori was on guard when she locked eyes with her brother. He had just fired four more shots toward the Cobras before making his way to her in their distracted state.

The look on his face said it all: he was ready to f
inish her off once and for all.

Panic struck her like a lightning bolt.

She scrambled to her feet and tried to make a run for it. To her horror, her legs were still weakened from the assault. She didn’t get far before falling back down, nearly crushing the dead body that rested beneath her. The panic exacerbated inside her. She quickly looked over her shoulder. Young Jae was aiming a black gun at her while still firing the other one at the Cobras.

Her eyes
expanded, and she speedily leapt to the side just as the gun fired.

Boom!

“Ahh!”

The bullet skimmed past her upper shoulder, ripping through her jacket and taking with it a thin
layer of her skin. Warm blood oozed from her body. The pain ricocheted crazily through her. Holding her quivering hand to the surface wound on her shoulder, she peered up again.

Her world froze in horror when she saw that
Young Jae was standing close to her, aiming the gun in the direction of her head.