The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (35 page)

“Look at how they shake,” Soo Jin observed, callous amusement sparking in her eyes as they rested on them. “That woman was Hwang Hee Jun’s girlfriend, and although the children aren’t his, I’m sure he loved them like his own. From the fear in their eyes, how they shudder, and how they looked at me when I tortured and shot those sixteen people, I know that they are the ones who have the answers we’re looking for.”

“You’re entertaining the idea of torturing a mother and her two children?”

“In every war, there are casualties,” said Soo Jin, the emotions in her eyes now completely unreadable. “I plan on interrogating them, and I’ll do what’s necessary if they refuse to tell me the truth.” She turned to him, already resolved on what she had to do for her gang. “Have the others leave, oppa. It should only be the two of us who hear any of this.”

“You’re not invincible, baby sister. Murdering gang members is very different from hurting innocent people.”

“She should’ve known better than to get involved with the King of Siberian Tigers then,” Soo Jin voiced with a shrug. There was no remorse or apprehension in her tone. She held his gaze with hers. “What happens tonight will be placed under my name and my name alone. I killed those sixteen people, and I’ll finish the rest. What I do to the mother and her children will have no effect on you. I don’t want to do this either, but if it’s for the good of our gang, then I’ll torture them all night if I have to.”

Young Jae took a long, thoughtful moment to deliberate everything. Finally, he acquiesced. “Don’t hurt them too badly.”

A smirk came over her face. “You were always the kindest of the two of us.”

A breath later, she jumped over the balcony. Her boots landed easily on the floor, crushing two amputated fingers beneath her. Soo Jin wasted no time. She sped over to the mother and children at once.

And then
. . .
it began.

“Get the fuck over here,” Soo Jin growled, grabbing the mother by the curls of her black hair. She dragged her over to the corner of the club where there were stairs and a white pillar.

Screaming in agony as her children chased after her and Soo Jin, the mother tried to fight, but found it was futile as both her hands and legs were bound with sturdy ropes.

Soo Jin kicked her face, and the mother was left wailing. Her children crawled beside her and tried to tend to her. They didn’t get too far before Soo Jin kicked them both out of the way and bestowed the mother with another kick to the face. A loud crack whipped in the air, indicating that her nose was broken.

“You bitch!” the other family members bellowed over their pain. They continued to shudder in shock as they screamed out to Soo Jin. “Leave them alone! They don’t know anything!”

“Go outside,” Young Jae ordered the four Scorpions watching the scene from the nearby balcony. “My sister and I will take care of this.”

“Yes, sir,” all four said before walking out of the club and slamming the door shut.

Young Jae looked back on the scene. Soo Jin was still beating up the mother while the children kneeled beside her, crying and begging for Soo Jin to stop.

“Just tell me where it is! I know that you know it!” Soo Jin screamed, opening the woman’s mouth. She stuck in the blade of her knife and held it there, the pointed edge of the blade promising to rip her cheek apart. “I know that Hee Jun trusted you,” Soo Jin snarled. “He couldn’t be sure that he would survive, and I know that of all people, he told you.”

“I really don’t know!” the mother cried, blood spurting out from her mouth.

Soo Jin smirked and pulled the knife out. She was careful with not cutting any skin. She veered her attention to the children. They were kneeling before her, still crying loudly as they begged her to stop torturing their mother.

“Would your sons know?” Soo Jin evilly prompted, already grabbing them both by the collars and throwing them toward their mother like they were rag dolls. “Did Hee Jun tell them instead?”

“No! No! Please, don’t touch them,” the mother begged, tears gleaming her eyes. “Don’t hurt my babies!”

Echoes of the children crying invaded the club. Soo Jin’s breathing became more intense after she closed her eyes in frustration. Their incessant crying was driving her crazy.

“Please!” one of the boys screamed, choking on his tears. “Please don’t kill us or our mommy!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Soo Jin spat out, her face paling at the sight of them crying. Her patience obliterated, she raced over to the woman and pulled her by the collar of her dress. “Tell me now because I have no more fucking patience. I’ll start cutting off their fingers if you don’t start talking.”

“Soo Jin, that’s enough,” Young Jae ordered from above. The sounds of the kids crying drove him mad with guilt. He couldn’t stand watching it any longer.

He commanded her to stop, but Soo Jin did not heed his command.

The boys continued to cry along with their mother, and Soo Jin continued to scream at them to shut up so she could hear their mother speak. But they wouldn't listen to her.

“57!” the boys started crying out. “57!”

“I told you to fucking stop crying!” Soo Jin snapped.

Her furious screams only made the kids cry harder.

Infuriated, she slapped them across the face to shut them up, but they still wouldn’t listen. They continued to cry and continued to shout out the number. Soo Jin was rubbing her face in irritation. She began to crack under the emotions spilling out of her. Their cries grew louder and louder. They became so desperate that they were even ready to rush over to Young Jae for his help. 

Two heart-stopping gunshots were suddenly fired.

Boom! Boom!

The whole place shook as the gunshots reverberated on
to the walls.

The crying stopped as two small, lifeless bodies fell on
to the floor.

The club erupted into bloodcurdling screams.

“Noooooo!” the mother sobbed. “Oh God! Noooooooo!”

Young Jae felt the air leave his lungs. He nearly keeled over at the appalling scene before him. His sister—his baby sister—just shot two children.

“Noooooooo!” the mother continued to cry out. “Noooooooo!”

Soo Jin shook uncontrollably, her eyes enlarged from what she just did. An exhale of relief emitted from her before she calmed herself down. Tucking her loose bangs behind her ears, Soo Jin pointed her gold gun at the mother. There were tears forming in Soo Jin’s eyes.

“Now!” she demanded through her tears, her gun trembling. “Tell me now. Tell me something, and I’ll let you go with them. If not, I won’t even let you die. I’ll keep you alive and have you stare at them until they begin to rot away!”

The mother’s tears mixed with the blood on her face. As though apologizing to her dead boyfriend, she closed her tearful eyes and finally told Soo Jin what she needed to know.

“On the left side of the Siberian Tigers’ estate
. . .
” she whispered through her tears, staring at Soo Jin dead in the eyes as she took her final, fading breath, “buried deep in the ground under the red roses. What you’re looking for, you’ll find it there.”

■
■
■

“What happened after that?” Yoori asked, shivering not from the cold, but from the nausea devouring her body.

She could feel the bloodstains on her. She could hear the screams. She could feel the guilt constricting her breath. An Soo Jin
. . .
that monster
. . .
that heartless monster. Yoori couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that Soo Jin was the one who tortured them—the one who killed them. Yoori wanted to sink down to the ground and cry as the remorse stabbed at her heart. Yet, with mighty effort, she took in a deep, shuddering breath and continued to persevere to gather more information. As long as she wasn’t feeling faint, as long as she wasn’t blacking out, she had to fight it out to learn more.

“Soo Jin shot her,” finished Young Jae, “and we killed the rest of the family members.”

“Did we find Tony and that
. . .
that thing for Ju Won?”

“Yes,” he confirmed. “We found both.”

Yoori nodded, pressing her clenched fists against her stomach to ease the pit of despair within it. She didn’t know how she was still breathing when there was so much guilt pumping through her.

“When did Soo Jin become consumed with guilt for killing those kids and their mother?”

“Right after we found it,” said Young Jae. His expression became pained at the reminder. “She took one look at it, fell apart, and disappeared afterward. I had no idea where she went until I heard rumors about someone spotting her and Ji Hoon at the club. I hadn’t realized that she returned to the club.”

“Can you tell me what that thing was?”

“It wasn’t worth it,” he said plainly.

“Wasn’t
. . .
Wasn’t worth it?” she stuttered.

He nodded.

Yoori waited for him to actually tell her what it was. When he refused to elaborate, she pressed on. “Can you please tell me what—?”

Young Jae shook his head, effectively interrupting her. “This is where it ends, little one. I can see how all of this has taken a toll on you. I’ve already told you too much. I’m not telling you anymore.”

“But—”

“No more,” he dismissed with a wave. “You’ve heard enough.” He squared his shoulders. It was clear that recounting this story also took a big toll on him. He ventured back on
to the topic that convinced him to reveal all of this in the first place. “Now tell me how you found out it was the Hwangs.”

“Tae Hyun’s assassins,” Yoori answered, unsatisfied that he wouldn’t disclose what it was that Ju Won wanted, what was worth killing thirty-four people for.

“The Cobras,” Young Jae said knowingly. “I should’ve known they would be the ones who would find out that information for their boss.” He sharpened his eyes on to her. “The fires in Taecin were made to look like it was an accident, but I knew it was too much of a coincidence. I wasn’t sure before, but I’m pretty damn sure now that it was them who set the fires.”

Yoori remained silent at her brother’s accurate assessment. She did not want to confirm that he was right because it would give him more leeway to hate Tae Hyun.

Young Jae caught her reaction nonetheless. It did not take him long to figure out the truth. “His assassins tried to kill you a year and a half ago.”

And a couple of days ago
, Yoori supplied in her mind.

“And you’re walking around hand-in-hand with their boss? Do you not comprehend what a dangerous position you’re in right now?”

“I’m safe with Tae Hyun,” she assured him. There was no fear in her when it came to Tae Hyun. “He cares about me. His feelings for me are genuine. I know it.”

“The Cobras are well-known in this world, lil sis. They possess the same qualities that Tae Hyun possesses. They are vengeful and prideful. They may heed his orders to not kill you now because he wants you by his side, but they will protect him at all costs. Rest assured that they are not done. They will find out something about you and tell him. And in turn, Tae Hyun will throw you out and feed you to the wolves.”

Yoori remained unfazed by her brother’s ominous words.

“I know that Soo Jin hated the Serpents family. That information isn’t new to Tae Hyun or me. And he knows that Soo Jin killed that entire family, so that isn’t new either. I’m not worried about them finding out anything from my past. Tae Hyun wouldn’t care.”

“There’s another one, lil sis,” Young Jae said forebodingly. “One more secret that would be strong enough to rip apart anything you have with him. It would be destructive, and I’m afraid if the Cobras dig enough, they will find out what it is and tell him.”

A cold wind breezed through her hair as goose bumps chased after goose bumps on her body. She was feeling unusually cold, and if the pit that worsened in her stomach was any indication, then she had the feeling that this was a terrible secret.

“What is the other secret?” Yoori asked with caution, fearing with all her heart what the answer could be.

“Ask him,” he whispered, gauging her reaction, “how his mother died.”

Her heart gave a horrible jolt.

“She committed suicide,” Yoori said flatly, suddenly shaking in her wits as the wind around her grew colder and less forgiving.

Young Jae gazed at her, his solemn eyes rippling with pity. “Nothing is what it seems in this world. Masquerades don’t just extend to the theme of tonight. It extends to all other realms of this world as well.”

He sighed, noting the trepidation that enveloped her eyes.

“Just ask him, lil sis. Just ask him how his mother died, and you’ll understand.”

“
And if you are not fit to be a Royal. . .”

14: Serpent’s Instinct