The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

get to travel the world while she had to stay in Korea and be trained here. She was jealous of him, but that emotion was fleeting when she took inventory of the apprehension in his demeanor as he drank his tea. He looked brave— a trait she imagined he would retain as he grew to become a man —but she sensed his trepidation all the same.
    Unable to help herself, she asked, “ Are you scared ?”
    He appraised her, his features surprised that she caught the emotion he didn’t physically show. There was an edge of guardedness in his eyes that told her he didn’t plan on answering her. Yet, as he stared deeper into her big brown eyes, his expression softened and the walls he held up came down. He slowly nodded, the weight of the world seemingly resting on his shoulders.
    “When my older brother came back to visit during his first year of training, he was different. I mean, he’s still the same. He’s still nice, he still protects me, and I still love him . . . but he changed. He had bruises all over his face, he was limping, and he looked tired and sad all the time.”
    Soo Jin’s own memory flashed before her eyes. She remembered Young Jae and how physically torn up he was after his first year of training. It was so bad that he had some facial surgeries for the serious injuries.
    The boy went on, taking a sip from the teacup. “I don’t want to train, but if I have to so that no one hurts my family, so that I can protect my family like my dad protects us, then I’ll do it. I’m not scared of getting hurt; I’m scared of becoming different . I like who I am right now; I’m really happy right now. I don’t want to change.” He smiled apprehensively, handing her another teacup before he deposited some tea leaves into the pot between them. “My dad said that my brother was like that too—that he was afraid. He said it’s only normal that I’m afraid because it means I’m human. He said that anyone who trains to become better than human would be afraid and hate what they’re going through. But he also told me that all of it would be worth it. He said that once the training was over, nothing but great things will come to our family. Nothing but great things will come to me—that once I was done, everyone would kneel before me.”
    “That’s what they say to me too,” Soo Jin finally shared, her fingers nervously playing with the various teacups filled with remnants of flavors they didn’t like.
    The boy turned to her, his face rife with confusion. He arched an inquisitive brow. “What do you mean they say that to you too?”
    “I’m leaving too,” she answered quietly, purposely being vague because she didn’t want to tell him that she was staying in Korea instead of being cool and traveling the world like him. They were being “trained” to be better than humans, but even then, Soo Jin knew her training was going to be much different from his. “But I’m leaving tomorrow, not tonight like you.”
    Interest teemed in his gaze. Now it was his turn to ask all the questions. “Where are you going?”
    “Away,” she answered elusively. It occurred to her how afraid she was. She didn’t grasp how scary all of this was until he mentioned his fears. Soo Jin didn’t want to change either. She liked who she was right now. “To learn how to fight, to protect my family, to have great things come to me, and to have people kneel before me.”
    His face was veiled with disbelief after he processed what she was telling him. “But you’re a girl.”
    Even though that statement could have easily been taken wrong, Soo Jin knew he wasn’t insulting her in a derogatory way. He was simply stating his shock.
    “I’m going to be a special girl,” she merely told him, not knowing herself why, out of all the possible Underworld heirs, her Uncle Ju Won chose her to live with him and train with him. As Soo Jin became distracted, she mindlessly stuck another type of tea leaf into the teapot, unaware that the boy