The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) by Con Template Page B

“hometown” that killed her adoptive family. Her adoptive mother had sent her shopping. From what the firefighters told her, she had missed the fire by mere minutes. If she had stayed any longer, she would’ve perished in that inferno as well.
    “Yes, the fires in Taecin,” the woman with the pixie haircut replied smugly. She moved to sit on a table next to the Mohawk guy. She played with her silver gun. “Our handiwork.”
    Yoori was astounded. It wasn’t an accident after all. These people set her home on fire and killed her adoptive family—her adoptive parents and her cousin.
    “Y ou killed—”
    “It’s u nfortunate the people we killed,” the leader started bitterly. “All the houses we burned down in hopes of killing you once and for all. But we should've been more careful and actually checked out who died in those fires. It was unfortunate that your adoptive parents' actual daughter died with them as opposed to you.”
    Yoori’s breathing became shallower.
    Finally, the truth.
    Her “ cousin” was the real daughter all along . . .
    The leader continued, his voice becoming more acidic. “We were kicked out of our gang because we went rogue to get rid of you, to kill the last shred of our humiliation and avenge our sister.”
    Yoori bit her lips, processing all his words . A disturbing truth dawned on her. His voice echoed in her mind: “All the houses we burned down in hopes of killing you once and for all . . . ”
    The homes in T aecin were spread apart. She couldn’t have known there were fires all around the city unless she actively sought out the news, which she didn’t do because she left almost immediately after the fire. The fog in her mind became denser. Nothing was making sense. Soo Jin humiliated them and got them kicked out of their gang? She killed their sister, drove them over the edge, and caused them to set fires to homes all over Taecin? She ran her eyes over them. Who were these people?
    “What gang?” Yoori finally asked, confounded with everything she was learning.
    The man leaning against the pillar , the one with spiky hair and a pierced left eyebrow, spoke. Yoori recognized him as the police impersonator. “Because of you, we were kicked out of the very gang we grew up in. Because you humiliated us to such a degree where we couldn’t tell our own boss who fucked up our faces, why we went rogue and spread those fucking fires in Taecin.” He scoffed resentfully. “We should’ve been braver and killed you when we saw you walking around that shop in Taecin.”
    “Yet, you somehow survived the fire ,” a girl with dyed blonde hair spoke. She was crouched down, staring at Yoori with venomous eyes. “And it appears that you either have an amnesia of sorts or you’re faking it. Regardless of the true reason behind your ‘I’m so innocent’ act, you somehow managed to infiltrate our gang and seduce our King in the process. You are a skilled bitch, I’ll give you that much.”
    In light of all the revelations thrown at her today, Yoori couldn’t help but freeze in disbelief.
    They were in Tae Hyun’s gang.
    “ Ser . . . Serpents?”
    “F ormer,” the male leader corrected spitefully. “Boss kicked us out when he found out about the fires in Taecin. He disowned us when we wouldn’t tell him who mutilated our faces; he severed ties with us when we couldn’t tell him why we were so intent on killing innocent people in Taecin. All because of you, An Soo Jin.”
    “I . . . I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
    R emorse gripped her. She had always known that Soo Jin tortured people, but to be standing here with her former victims, it was enough to throw an already emotional Yoori over the edge.
    “Your amnesia is very convenient isn’t it, An Soo Jin? Or should I call you Choi Yoori? That is your supposed name now, right?” The male leader chuckled darkly. “No matter. Boss and the rest of the Underworld may be unsure with you, but we know the