The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) (53 page)

“A new meeting place was built shortly after your death. It was built for me when I was crowned the new King of Serpents.” Tae Hyun’s face turned conflicted while a cold breeze skittered past them, sending goose bumps to materialize on the entirety of Yoori’s body. “That new arena is
The Stadium
. The
entire
Underworld is going to be there. I can only imagine how Ji Hoon must’ve gotten back into their good graces because of our departure—”

He paused momentarily.

It looked for a split second that he didn’t want to finish that sentence, but when Yoori told him to go on with her eyes, he did as she asked.

As his next words came over her, Yoori’s world collapsed.

“ . . . And because of Young Jae’s new status in the Underworld.”

Her heart stopped beating while her eyes grew wide in vigilance.

“
What
new
status?” she asked slowly, fearing the answer.

“Young Jae was crowned as the Lord of Japan’s Underworld last night.”

Yoori felt her whole world tilt on its axis as the enormity of this information came over her, pummeled her, and left her reeling from its unforgiving destruction.
She could no longer breathe.
Gasping for air, she stumbled back against the railing.

“The first Lord of all the Underworlds,” she breathed out disbelievingly.

She returned her eyes to Tae Hyun and looked at him in sheer disbelief. She didn’t want to believe this; she didn’t want to believe her brother had
this
much power. Her mind spun with questions.
How
? How did he acquire so much power in such a short period of time? How was
any
of this possible?

“But the Korean Underworld was scheduled to have the first Lord,” she uttered, still unable to grasp the reality of her new world. “
How
is it possible that Japan acquired the first date?”

“Japan moved theirs up,” answered Tae Hyun. “
That
was why Young Jae disappeared to Japan so much . . . because he had killed every other potential Lord. That night in the business district when he left with P.C., he went back to Tokyo and killed the final King standing in his way.”

Yoori ran through the last memory of her brother and recalled that exact moment when this occurred:

“Boss!” P.C. continued to scream out, using all his strength to pry Young Jae away from Anna’s dead body. “Things are happening in Japan! We have to go!”

“My brother,” Yoori said in breathless stupefaction, “is the first Lord.”

“He has used his power as the Japanese Underworld’s newly crowned Lord to get Ji Hoon back into the good graces of the Korean Underworld,” Tae Hyun went on with difficulty. “Ji Hoon is now the elected Lord of the Underworld for Korea, and because you and I have forfeited our positions, he is the
only
elected candidate. The title is
guaranteed
to him. Ji Hoon’s only task is to punish and execute me in front of the entire Underworld, and then serve my head on a platter to them. After which, he would officially be the new Lord.” His tortured eyes searched Yoori’s. “Because he is in Young Jae’s favor, it is in his best interest to lure you out. He plans to give you to Young Jae so that Young Jae can exact his revenge on you and execute you the way he sees fit.”

Yoori trembled when she recalled earlier in the night, when Tae Hyun was speaking softly on the phone. She didn’t initially think much of it. It occurred to her now that sometime during his conversation about postponing the trip to Paris, he must have called his Underworld contacts and gotten a briefing about everything that was going on in the Underworld—everything that he knew he had to keep Yoori away from.

Overwhelmed by the heaviness of her congested mind, Yoori briefly closed her eyes and absorbed all the new information. The most predominant thought on her mind was Young Jae and his part in all of this. After what transpired during Ju Won’s party, it was an impossibility for Ji Hoon to get back into their good graces. However, if he had the support of the first Lord of all the Underworlds, then there was no question that he would get back the position he once renounced. Her next crippling thought in this maelstrom of pandemonium was that
everything
that had taken place tonight was the result of Young Jae becoming the first Lord. This ultimately meant that everything that happened tonight—the misery that awaited them—was the result of Yoori preventing Tae Hyun from killing Young Jae when they had the chance.

I should’ve never let him go
, Yoori thought regrettably, reflecting back to the moment when Tae Hyun was ready to kill her brother and she stopped him. She had never regretted anything more than saving her own brother’s life.
None of this would be happening if I hadn’t let him go . . .

Overwhelmed by the sheer extent of everything finally hitting her at once, Yoori broke out of her reverie. She stared at Tae Hyun in pure horror. “You know that the
entire
Underworld is going to be there and you still want to go alone?”

Yoori felt her heart pound, never hating it more that he loved her so much that he wouldn’t let her help him with this. If the entire Underworld turns against you, you don’t walk into it alone—
you just don’t.

“Tae Hyun,” she begged as a million different scenarios of what could happen ran through her mind, crippling her. All these horrific scenarios started with Tae Hyun in danger and ended with him not being able to make it out alive. “We can take them. We can fight them all together.”

Tears welled up in her eyes when she saw that Tae Hyun was no closer to un-cuffing her. The knowledge was agonizing for her.

“Please don’t go alone. Let me go with you,” she pleaded, grabbing his hand and gripping it tightly. “Let me
follow
you. We made a pact, Tae Hyun,” she added desperately, wishing he could just take out the keys and un-cuff her. “We made a pact to be together, to be by each other’s side no matter what.”

He smiled sadly and touched her face. “I know that we made a pact,” he told her delicately, his voice shaking faintly. “And I didn’t want to break it. I didn’t want to break it, but I can’t risk you going, Yoori. I saw how Young Jae looked at you; I
know
that he will be waiting for you there.” He inhaled painfully, thinking of an entity that was crueler than Young Jae could ever hope to be. “And I know how vicious our world can be when it punishes someone. I can’t risk you going. I can handle it all by myself, but I won’t be able to handle it if even an inch of you gets hurt.” He breathed in softly. “I can’t protect you there, so I’ll protect you here.”

“Please, Tae Hyun! Don’t—don’t!” she cried, becoming hysterical.

He closed his eyes in grief at the sight of her like this. His body trembled faintly as he pulled her to him and kissed her forehead.

“I’m going to call Chae Young when I leave,” he went on slowly, his conviction set when he made a move to walk away. “When she comes, promise me you’ll leave Seoul. Don’t come looking for me. Just leave, just go to Paris first, and I’ll follow you after I save Hae Jin and Kang Min. I’ll meet you there.”

It was a lie.

She knew it was a lie.

She could tell by his eyes that even he was unsure of his own words, that he was only saying it in hopes of assuaging her hysteria and her tears.

“Tae Hyun, please. Please let me go with you,” she pleaded brokenly, frantically holding onto him with her free hand. “Oh God, what if something happens to you?”

“Yoori, don’t be like this,” he begged, his voice breaking as he cupped her face in agony. “
Please
. Don’t be like this, Brat.”

She could see that he was tortured, especially when his anguished lips sought hers. She knew he was tortured, which was why she snapped her head back, not wanting to give him the kiss he was seeking. Kissing him like this only meant that it would be the end; it would only mean that he would never come back to her. And for that, she wasn’t going to give him that kiss; she wasn’t going to let it be the end.

“Please don’t leave me,” she implored instead. Her heart twisted in sorrow as she stared at the one she loved more than life itself. “Un-cuff me right now. Let me go with you. We made a pact. We made a pact!”

“I’m sorry,” he uttered, swallowing past the tears that were beginning to well up in his own eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Without another word, he made an effort to walk away. A panic-stricken Yoori caught him in time by pulling the sleeve of his jacket, desperately tugging him back to her.

“Please let me go with you,” she pleaded, repeating the same mantra she had been vocalizing all day. It was repetitive, yet each time she said it, she felt her desperation for it grow. Then, she simply lost it. “You can’t go into this alone! You can’t leave me like this and go there alone!”

Tae Hyun closed his eyes as if to prep himself for what he had to do. Shortly after, with pained reluctance, he pulled out of her grasp, leaving Yoori to stumble forward and fall to the ground, the cuffed wrist catching her fall as she landed on her knees.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated again, his face twisting in agony. This was not what he wanted. This was the last thing he wanted for them.

He took the key to the handcuff out of his pocket and bent his knees. He crouched down and placed it on the floor, close enough to her, but also far enough so that she couldn’t reach out for it and un-cuff herself. He was leaving it out for Chae Young, not for her. 

Standing up, he gazed at her one last time.

He drank in the sight of her, taking a final mental picture of her to catalog in his memories before he turned away from her and voluntarily walked into the depths of hell by himself.

“TAEEEEEEEE HYUUUUUUUN!” Yoori shouted at the top of her lungs, horrified to see him walking away.

She could see his muscles bunch underneath his clothes at the sound of her tortured voice. She could see his body stiffen up, its reaction wanting nothing more than to come back to her and wipe her tears away. Yet, against his needs, he continued to walk straight ahead, never allowing himself to turn around to face her again.

Panic set within Yoori.

She started tugging at the handcuffs, blood flowing from her left wrist while she tried to fight the impossible and run after him. The flesh on her wrist started to chafe from the impact, the fibers on her skin ripping slowly. Despite this injury, she continued to struggle to pull herself free.

Her heart was breaking; it was killing her.

Every ache and pain she once felt worsened as tears streamed down her eyes.

“TAEEEEEEEEEEEE HYUUUUUUUUUUUN!” she cried past the sobs in her chest. Her entire upper body collapsed to the cold floor in exhaustion. The flesh on her left wrist bled as she fought against the handcuffs. “Please come back! Please don’t leave!”

It was the sound of his car driving away that broke her. It was the sound of his car making a turn out of the parking lot that left her in a world of hell, and it was the sound of complete silence that tore up her heart and reminded her of why she was so afraid of giving herself completely to him.

All of
this
.

This was the reason why she was afraid of becoming human for him.

“No,” she whispered once she found herself
completely
and
utterly
alone. “No . . .”

Exhaustion riding the last of her remaining strength, Yoori allowed her tears to drip onto the cement. All the while as she cried, she tried to stretch her right hand out to grab the key. Blood started to seep out of her bullet wound. The strain she was putting on it aggravated it immensely. She could feel her body break apart as unfathomable pain ripped through her. Alas, all of that couldn’t hold a candle to the pain ripping through her very soul.

Tae Hyun
. . .
Oh God, Tae Hyun
. . .

She tried to tug harder at the cuff. She was determined to rip it out of her entire wrist if she had to. Her efforts proved futile. Nothing was working. She couldn’t reach for that unobtainable key, and she couldn’t bring herself closer to going after Tae Hyun.

“No . . . Oh God, no . . .”

Realizing that she wasn’t getting anywhere, realizing that he was getting closer and closer to meeting an entire Underworld that was waiting to kill him, and realizing that she couldn’t do anything to help him, Yoori let out an anguished sob from the depths of her constricted chest.

She cried to herself while she helplessly pressed her forehead onto the floor. She sobbed at the pitiable state she was in. The love of her life, the one who meant the world to her, was on his way to fighting an unbeatable battle alone. All the while she was there . . . sitting there crying and unable to do anything.

“Tae Hyun,” she called through her pained sobs. “Come back. Please come back to me . . .”

Then, out of the silence, came familiar voices.

“Yoori?! Oh my God, Yoori!”

“Shit! Boss!”

Like a lost sailor spotting a beacon in the darkness, Yoori’s eyes blossomed once she heard the two voices scream out her name. She lifted her gaze up. A tsunami of hope surged into her when she saw Chae Young and Jae Won run towards her.