The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (66 page)

“The Serpents
’ empire is on the rise, Soo Jin,” he told her gently, the patience in his voice constant while he addressed her. “It doesn’t matter how many of my men you kill because four more will come and take their places. Just give it a rest. You know that in the end, my Serpents and I will be the ones ruling over this layer. Be the smart girl you are and stop pissing me off. You’ll need my favor to keep your title once I’m crowned the Lord of our world.”

Now it was Soo
Jin’s turn to laugh mockingly. “As I distinctly recall, my brother and Ji Hoon are in the process of merging their gangs together. And the simple fact that they have me is sure to get them some points with the Advisors, as well as with the rest of the layers. One of
them
will be the new Lord.” She smirked. “What do you have Ho Young? The scavengers you call your gang members? You think your legion of leeches will catapult you into the role as the Lord of our world?”

Ho Young laughed.
“You forget, Soo Jin, that in addition to all the power I have in this layer, I also have my little brother by my side.”

Soo Jin stiffened at the rem
inder of his younger brother.

Ho Young’s smile grew even wi
der at her reaction.

He inhaled another puff of smoke before blowing it out and
breathing in the cold air.

“As I recall, the two of you have never met
, but I’m sure you’ve heard of him.” Pride canvassed his voice at the mention of his brother. “The chosen Prince and the new expected ruler of the 1
st
layer.”

Soo Jin clenched her fists in restrained fury.

Yes, she had heard of Kwon Tae Hyun.

The second son of
the Kwon family; the one who won the mentorship from the top crime lords in the 1
st
layer, had the friendships of some of the most powerful heirs in the palm of his hand, had Shin Dong Min—one of the three elder Advisors—as his personal Advisor, a feat unheard of for any Prince in the 1
st
layer, and was irrefutably the pride of the exclusive 1
st
layer.

The politicians, business tycoons, and heavy media influencers were
known to be “snobbish” when it came to dealing with their more powerful counterparts and had always been distant to the Kings of the 3
rd
layer. Garnering support from the majority of the 1
st
layer had always appeared to be an unfeasible feat
. . .
that was until the Prince of Serpents came along and dazzled everyone with his charms, cunningness, superiority, impressive fighting skills that was said to have rivaled Kings and, of course, the unrivaled good looks that were said to have stolen the hearts of any woman he came across.

Soo Jin scoffed in skepticism at the last bit a
bout how much of an eye-candy he was.

She had never met the guy, nor had the pleasure of seeing how good
-looking he was, but just hearing the rave reviews from the typically hard to impress 1
st
layer crowd irritated her. She hated the bastard for the simple reason that he was Ho Young’s baby brother, and she hated it more that there was someone out there, who wasn’t an heir to the 3
rd
layer throne like her, receiving the same type of reverence as her. Granted her status was still higher, it was no secret that the revered Prince of the 1
st
layer was becoming stronger and stronger. She was willing to bet that it would only be a matter of time before the spoiled 1
st
layer bastard yielded as much power as she did. He was a force to be reckoned with and having him by Ho Young’s side only meant that there was a higher chance that the favor of the Underworld would tilt in their direction, thereby meaning that the distribution of power would eventually be theirs.

The
prospect enraged Soo Jin.

She made
a mental note to kill off the “good-looking and charming” bastard for the simple fact that his existence offended her and boiled her competitive blood.

“An Soo Jin,”
Ho Young mocked, finding hilarity in the obvious anger resonating from the revered Queen, “your jealousy over Tae Hyun’s growing reverence is toxic. I swear, I’m about to keel over from the steam that comes out of you whenever you think of him.”

Jealousy was never a great color on her.

“Fuck you, you worthless pig,” Soo Jin snapped, unable to contain her rage. She clenched her fists. She wanted nothing more than to rip his guts out with her bare hands. She had done it before with others and would love to do it to him.

“You’re
not my type,” Ho Young taunted, inhaling another round of smoke that seemed to reach the pit of his lungs before extricating itself with the current of the wind.

She grew angrier with hi
s careless demeanor.

Then,
she lost it because she knew what his type was. “I dare you to laugh once I cut off your dick and shove it down your throat, you disgusting piece of shi—”

“
Don’t you have other things to do than stand here and piss off my sister?” a deep male voice interrupted just as Soo Jin was preparing to lunge at Ho Young and kill him once and for all.

Soo Jin turned and
was annoyed when her brother, An Young Jae, moved beside her. His eyes were firmly set on Ho Young. The appearance of her brother meant one thing: she would not be able to fight with Kwon Ho Young.

They stared at one another, both
Kings fearless in spite of the other.

Tension
saturated the air, and Soo Jin could’ve sworn they were having a silent conversation with each other before Ho Young broke the silence and smiled mockingly at Young Jae’s comment.

His expression said it all:
he was ready to leave anyway.

Allowing one last puff of smoke to curl away from his
lips, he threw the cigar away and killed the light with the sole of his expensive black leather shoe.

“Yes, now that you’ve mentioned it, I believe it is time to send this new car over to my little brother before he com
es back to visit our fair city.” His unreadable eyes moved on to Young Jae. He held it there for a brief moment before his gaze journeyed on to Soo Jin. His lips lifted into a patronizing grin. Then, he said words that he knew would make her blood simmer. “It’s been a pleasure, my Queen.”

There was no respect with how he addressed her. He said it with such ridicule that it became the last straw for Soo Jin
.

Fucking
bastard.

Unable to stand it, Soo Jin released her inhibitions and mad
e a move to chase after Ho Young. She was stopped in her tracks when her brother’s hand encircled her arm like a vise. His grip on her was unforgiving. It was sure to leave a bruise, but Soo Jin didn’t even flinch at the pain. She was too focused on Ho Young.

In her bout of anger, she deci
ded to open Pandora’s Box.

“I saw you that night, Ho Young,
” she uttered, knowing just what to say to knock him off his high horse.

She no longer wanted to keep
a secret what she’d known about Ho Young for the past two years.
She did not care about keeping her word to her brother and keeping this information to herself. All she wanted to do was to hurt Ho Young and take credit in the glory of what happened to his family.

Ho
Young’s eyes grew firm on her. “What are you talking about?”

“
Soo Jin,” Young Jae said gravely, tightening his grip on her arm. Her brother wasn’t an idiot. He knew what she was trying to do; he knew she was trying to provoke Ho Young. “Don’t you dare.”

H
is severe voice did little to dissuade Soo Jin who, although was loyal enough to her brother, was spoiled enough by him that she just didn’t care to adhere to his strict call. That was the thing about Soo Jin, her pride and hot temper surpassed even her loyalty to her brother.

“The night of your
mother’s death,” she whispered despite her brother’s warning to shut up. “I saw you walking out of your baby sister’s room, buttoning the last button of your shirt before you went back to your room.”

She laughed when
she saw the dawning light of knowledge in Ho Young’s eyes. He looked gobsmacked that there had been a witness to that scene.

S
oo Jin went on, feeding on his stricken state. “How proud your mother must be in death to realize that her eldest son has been raping his baby sister all along.” A savage laugh flooded from her. “I wonder how that little brother of yours will feel if he ever finds out what you’ve been doing to her? I’m sure that little tidbit would ruin the great brotherhood shared between the two of you, don’t you think?”

“When
. . .
were you in the Serpents’ estate?” he asked instead, not even bothering to deny her accusations.

H
o Young, like her brother, was one of the more intelligent men that she had met. It was a quality that all the Kings of the Underworld had to possess. He knew immediately that Soo Jin wasn’t simply telling him that she knew he had been raping his sister; he knew she was also insinuating something else. And if the darkness that overtook his eyes was any indication, then he already had a hunch that this bomb would be a big one.

The memory of that night came vividly to her mind
and she slowly unraveled it to him.

“
I was
. . .
visiting your mother.” She purposely made the indifference in her tone of voice as cruel as possible. “Brought her some alcohol bottles to help her along with her misery.” Soo Jin feigned a disappointed sigh, which earned a growl from her older brother. He was infuriated that she even dared to reveal this against his orders. “It’s a crying shame what happened to her. What a senseless death.”

Ho Young’s eyes enlarged at this admission. He did
not need to hear her actual confession to know what she was implying. “It was you all along
. . .
”

The patience th
at once enamored him evaporated with the last rays of the setting sun. A powerful and dangerous aura took over instead. He was angry, livid. All this fury was directed at Soo Jin, who more than welcomed his hatred.

“Ho Young,
” Young Jae said tightly, tightening his grip on Soo Jin.

He pulled her behind him with a force that Soo Jin could’ve fought
, but chose not to for she knew she had not only pushed Ho Young’s patience over the edge, but his as well. However, as aggravated as Young Jae was with her, the brotherly protection he had for her overshadowed his own irritation.

His indiscernible
eyes buried into Ho Young’s. “Any fight you want to get justice for begins and ends with me. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten that agreement we made, the one that states we leave our sisters out of our war? You
do
care about your sister enough to protect her, right?”

The tone in which Young Jae asked this question
hit a nerve in Ho Young.

Anger dispelled out of his eyes at Young
Jae’s reminder of his sister.

Soo Jin smirked.
So, that was the reason why Ho Young never tried to hurt her, because they made an agreement to not hurt each other’s sisters. The logic seemed odd to her, as she required no protection, but it seemed to be a pact that Ho Young took seriously because the fury that once veiled over him vanished with the desire to protect his sister.

“It is luck
y for both of you that I’m busy right now,” he said with finality, remnants of darkness still coloring his voice. “And to be brief, I hope you don’t mind that I ordered my Cobras to kill two dozen of your Scorpions to even the score for killing my men the other night. The bodies are laying on your estate’s lawn as we speak.”

Soo Jin stiffene
d in anger at this knowledge.

Ho Young
grinned as if he was telling them he had just left a care package at their home. “And just for how our meeting progressed tonight, I’ll send out the orders to have two dozen more sent your way.” He inclined his head toward Soo Jin. Residual malice treaded on his features. “You should be more careful from this point on. One day, your disillusioned pride will get you killed. Take care
. . .
little one.”

On that note
, Ho Young pulled the door to the Mercedes open. He seated himself in the car just as Soo Jin made a move to run after him for giving her that subtle threat.

“Stay where you are, lil sis,
” Young Jae commanded simply, his eyes on Ho Young as he started the engine.

Soo Jin didn’t even realize she was
still steps away from chasing after him until her brother’s voice stopped her. She did as she was told, for she knew her disobedience of her brother’s orders was capped for the night. Everyone had their limits; she did not want to push his.