The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (40 page)

Although
she was overcome with awe, the one overpowering awareness that consumed Yoori while she treaded across the estate with Tae Hyun was that there was a familiarity to this place. It felt like she had been here before.

You came here
with your brother when you were Soo Jin
, she assured herself when they stepped onto the manicured lawn and jumpstarted their exploration.

“On the l
eft side of the Siberian Tigers’ estate, buried deep in the ground under the red roses. What you’re looking for, you’ll find it there
. . .
” Yoori repeated long moments later as she and Tae Hyun continued to stalk across the enormous lawn.

There were still sparks of tension surrounding them—as they were still “pissed off”
at each other—but there was also camaraderie for the situation they found themselves in. Yoori was upset with Tae Hyun, but in the end, she knew she couldn't count on anyone else (or trust anyone else) to know how to protect her should the threat of a triggered memory occur. Out of everyone, the only one who could keep her from being consumed by Soo Jin was Tae Hyun.

The dim
light from Tae Hyun’s mansion embraced the space they were in. A second later, a blast of thunder clapped overhead. Yoori had since changed from her ivory halter dress into a white zip-up hoodie. Her black jeans were tucked into her long black leather boots. Tae Hyun, on the other hand, wore black jeans, white sneakers, and a dark gray zip-up hoodie. They wore their hoods up to protect themselves from the rain.

“Crap, I do
n’t even know where to begin,” Tae Hyun miserably declared. A grimace of disappointment darkened his face. He crouched down and touched the damp grass. It was as though he was hoping for a blast of inspiration from the mere touch.

Yoori nodded in the same
dejected manner. Sprinkles of rain continued to pour over them. Her eyes roamed the massive lawn they were on. All that surrounded them were well-cut grass, beautifully manicured bushes, and trees. There were no roses, no flowers, nor any sign of disturbance in the soil—ultimately no hints as to where they should even begin to look. Frankly speaking, Yoori (and she was sure Tae Hyun) realized that they may have been a bit too ambitious and optimistic when they drove over to the estate. They expected answers right away. Clearly, this mystery would not be an easy one to solve.

Tae Hyun’s eyes wandered all across his spacious lawn. Yoori could
see that the prideful one was pissed that he didn’t know if there was anything hidden on his estate. He glanced to her direction, and she felt self-conscious. She could tell, by how he looked at her, that he was hoping for one of those miracles where she would suddenly sprout antennas and tell him that she not only remembered what her and her brother did here, but she would also tell him where to look.

Yoori shot him the
“you-wish-it-was-that-easy” look. It was a look that Tae Hyun sighed at. With only roadblocks in front of him, he went back to using his brain.

His eyes charted the dark estate.
“Repeat it to me again.”

Yoori didn’t miss a beat. Her voice carried over the steadily falling rain. “
On the left side of the Siberian Tigers’ estate, buried deep in the ground under the red roses. What you’re looking for, you’ll find it there.”

Lingering silence
suspended between them. The quote, which soon became the mantra of the night, ricocheted in their minds. With her heart hammering and her body freezing, Yoori was ready to give up on their little quest. She was on the verge of voicing her surrender when she saw a flash of realization stir in Tae Hyun’s eyes.

He gazed up at her, his expression awash with knowle
dge. “When you spoke to Ju Won, was there ever a point during the conversation where he looked into the ballroom?”

She knitted her brows. “What?”

“Humor me,” he told her, yet there was no hilarity in his voice.

Yoori eyed him suspiciously
and rummaged through her memory to recall her meeting with Ju Won. She slowly nodded. “Yes, when one of his men came in and asked if he was ready for his speech. Ju Won looked at me for a bit and then he gazed into the ballroom. After that, he told the man to go ahead and that he was ready.” Yoori fastened her eyes onto Tae Hyun. He was still crouched down and staring up at her. “What does this have to do with anything?”

A lopsided grin
tugged at Tae Hyun’s lips. Her answer was exactly what he wanted to hear. “The thing you should know about Ju Won is that he is a vigilant old bastard. When you spoke to him, there was a point in the conversation where you told me you pressed him for answers of what he wanted Soo Jin to do. We have to presume that he didn’t give you the obvious answer because he was afraid that someone might be eavesdropping from inside the ballroom. Now tell me about your conversation with Ju Won again, the part where you demanded that he give you answers.”

Though Yo
ori wasn’t sure where he was headed with it, she obliged because out of everyone, she trusted that Tae Hyun would be the one to help her figure all of this out.

“He said to me, ‘You’re not asking for answers.
To truly want answers, you’ll ask for the equations in which the answers derive from.’”

A full smile lit
Tae Hyun’s face. He propelled to his feet. He towered above her, arrogance beaming from his strong stature. He heard the words he wanted to hear from her. He was finally ready to enlighten her.

“He was hinting th
e answer to you the entire time.” Tae Hyun laughed in awe. “Damn, the old bastard is smart.”

“What
. . .
What are you talking about?” Yoori asked, wondering if Tae Hyun was in the right state of mind with all the rain that was deluging upon them.

Tae Hyun elaborated on his current train of thoughts. “In the Underworld, sometimes a red rose symbolizes someone’s body. For instance
, if you were to receive a red rose on your doorstep, it would mean that harm is about to come your way or your death is near.”

By now
, Yoori was not only freezing her ass off, but she was also confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Tae Hyun
peeled every layer of his reasoning for her. “When you’re burying something, you have to stab the shovel into the red roses—or the bodies—in order to get to the ground. And ‘estate’ in the Underworld would also signify someone’s wealth or their pride.”

“To truly want answers, you’ll ask for the
equations in which the answers derive from.”

Ju Won’s words replayed in her mind, and
Yoori finally understood what Tae Hyun was doing. He was solving the conundrum given to them by using the clue that Ju Won secretly gave her. In order to uncover the real answer, they needed to decipher what the prominent words in the riddle symbolized.

“Yoori,” Tae Hyun
called out when the puzzle pieces started to fall into place for him. “The acronym for Siberian Tigers would be ‘S.T.’ When you
physically
look at that acronym, doesn’t it resemble something else?”

Yoori’s
eyes swelled up at this simple, yet eye-opening revelation. Tae Hyun’s knowledge was contagious. It didn’t take long for Yoori to get swept up in the enlightenment. She bestowed him with her own pearls of wisdom.

“The number 57
. . .
‘S.T.’ resembles 57.” Her heart thumped in exhilaration. “The number ‘57’ represents ‘S.T.,’ the acronym of the Siberian Tigers.”

For so long, the s
ignificance of the number “57” eluded her. She couldn’t believe she didn’t put it all together sooner. Thank goodness for the pathway Tae Hyun paved for her.

Tae Hyunnie, you fuck
ing gorgeous genius.

Yoori
was in a state of thrill. The urges to jump on him, hug him, and compliment him with all that she had surged through Yoori. But she held back the impulse. Distracting him from his momentum of revelations would not help them in the end. Perhaps when all of this was good and over, she’d shower him with the enamoring kisses he so rightfully deserved. Right now, they were here for business and anything else would have to wait.

Y
oori’s bout of distraction did not deter Tae Hyun from his thoughts. He was still on track; he was still on his way to unearthing the secret that had them spellbound.

The weather
around them became unforgiving. The dark sky rumbled and growled while the rain splashed viciously at their faces. There was no warmth left on their bodies. In spite of how merciless the storm was becoming, Yoori and Tae Hyun were so lost in their own little world that being drenched from head to toe was the least of their worries.

“
On the left side of the Siberian Tigers’ estate, buried deep in the ground under the red roses. What you’re looking for, you’ll find it there,” Tae Hyun repeated again. It was clear something crucial had flickered in his mind. Silence embalmed him for a brief second before his glittering brown eyes met Yoori’s. His gaze was one filled with exhilaration, disbelief, and utter confusion. “I don’t think the woman was telling Soo Jin
where
any item was hidden. I think she was telling Soo Jin
how
to perform a procedure.”

Chills seeped
through Yoori.

“
A procedure?” she breathed out, unable to figure out why she was abruptly afraid. A paranoid part of her envisioned a cult-like process that involved cloaks, knives, red roses, burials, and sacrifices. She speedily eradicated those ridiculous thoughts from her head. A cult-like procedure would’ve been too easy of an explanation for the secret they were sitting on. Whatever it was that they were trying to uncover, it was more than an “item” that Ju Won wanted.

Still
mystified, Tae Hyun reflected further. He repeated the riddle to himself again. A realization lit up on his face. He suddenly turned to Yoori with widened eyes when it all became crystal clear to him.

“
I think for the procedure, the woman was telling Soo Jin to scar the Siberian Tigers’ pride—the number ‘57’—onto the left side of the body
on
someone else’s pride.” His voice heightened with knowledge. “My Cobras were the pride of the Serpents three years ago. I think
that
was why An Soo Jin chose to scar the left side of their cheeks
. . .
because of this procedure.”

“But why?” Her brain struggled to put the puzzle pieces together. She couldn’t understand any of it. “Why the hell would she tell Soo Jin to scar your Cobras?”

“I think it’s universal, Yoori. I think
my Cobras stumbled across Soo Jin that night and they were perfect for what she needed.”

“I don’t understand
.” Yoori blinked the rain off her eyelashes. “Ju Won was trying to find out a procedure?”

F
rustration marked Tae Hyun’s visage. He pulled his hood off and raked his fingers through his now damp hair. Rivulets of rain poured down his face. He shrugged irritably. “I’m at a dead-end too.”

Anxiety
besieged her. The exhilaration that once livened her soul vanished. Yoori’s mind ran in circles. Did the “item” even exist? Did Ju Won give her a hint the other night because he knew she’d decipher what the woman said? Or was it just a coincidence? Why did Soo Jin scar the Cobras? Why would the woman tell Soo Jin to scar anyone when Soo Jin was specifically asking for the
location
of an item? Nothing
. . .
Nothing was making sense to her.

“
This is so frustrating!” Yoori groaned, lowering her hood. She ran her fingers through her hair in aggravation. A migraine began to ensue in her overwhelmed mind. “It’s like once we figure something out, the puzzle becomes bigger and bigger!”

Sharing in the same confused state as Tae Hyun
, Yoori’s eyes aimlessly wandered all throughout the estate. The world surrounding her was now submerged with water. Completely drenched from the rain, it was only when a streak of lightning lit the world up did an awareness dawn on her.

“I’ve been here before,
” she said mindlessly, casting her gaze at the mansion without blinking.

Intrigue came over Tae Hyun. “With your brother?”

“No.” Her eyes did not waver from the grand infrastructure. It seemingly glowed in contrast to the dark world around them. It acted as her haven, a magnetic haven. An unfamiliar sensation gripped her. Thunder boomed in the near distance, and she broke into a run for the mansion.

“
What are you doing?” Tae Hyun asked, running and keeping pace with her.

“I’ve been here before.” H
er boots dug into the muddy grass as she accelerated her pace. “In my dreams. I’ve been here before in my dreams.”

It was a dream she had right before she woke up
and found Chae Young in the diner. It was a dream that felt so alive to her, but she categorized as immaterial. It did not matter that she couldn’t remember much from the dream because her body remembered plenty. It continued to steer her toward the mansion.