Chapter 172 - Other Forces

He looks worried as he says "A higher heavenly council member... they basically overlook everything in this world and keep things in... order. They have different ranks and they're all assigned to different things but him coming here and looking for you... it's not a good thing." 

"I'm afraid they'll force you to go back now that they know you're here..." He says walking back to the room before sitting me on the bed saying "I've killed the physician for his betrayal to me and this kingdom but it still doesn't help us now. What did he say?" 

I frown and say "It's true, he wanted to send me back because of balance and order... or whatever but, I told him about my dreams and what I can do to the Under Realms men. I even showed him the marks on my arm and the bruise on my ankle. When he touched the bruise,  his eyes turned a creepy white color." 

Bai Lei nods his head and quickly says "He was tapping in to see what happened. Probably to see if you spoke the truth. What did he say after that?" I lightly scratch the side of my neck as I say "After that, he started acting weird. He asked about me being called 'little star' and how I came here to this world, then asked me about the woman... he even showed me a portrait of her. After that, he seemed freaked out or something and told me he would return me here while he speaks to the others." 

Bai Lei's face loses all color as his eyes show a mixture of emotions flying through them. I'm not a complete idiot, I know whatever's happening is serious but I'm still extremely lost. It seemed like the man from the higher heavenly council was so much stronger than the people here but... why does Bai Lei know so much about them?

I watch Bai Lei closely as I ask "What are they?" His eyes slowly focus on me before reaching up to stroke my hair. He stands up and places a kiss on my forehead before stepping back to say "Trouble... more than I want to deal with at the moment." 

I reach out and grab the end of his sleeve as I say "You're keeping something from me. Why?" His eyes flash before quickly looking away. I narrow my eyes on him and release his sleeve, waiting. I can see him struggling with something before turning to look at me with a conflicted look. 

A cold feeling slowly creeps into my heart as I see him withholding information from me. I see the moment he makes his decision as his face hardens and says "There are other forces at work here Nova. You suddenly showing up was never part of the plans but I'm glad you did."

He lowers himself in front of me so that we're eye to eye as he says "I just need you to trust me. Can you do that?" He gently grabs my hand and rubs his thumb over my knuckles as he watches me watch him. 

"You want me to blindly trust you? Knowing that you're hiding something from me and yet be completely fine with it? What happened to being honest with each other?" His eyes harden as he looks down at our combined hands.

My heart races with fear and... hell, I don't even know what this feeling is! When he looks back up to me his eyes are no longer kind and warm. They're hard, cold, and unfamiliar. "You have no idea what you've stepped into, Nova but I need you to trust me and stay out of it."

The cold feeling in my heart starts to take root as I watch him with confusion. "I'll keep you hidden here in this courtyard from the higher heavenly council. You can stay here and cultivate, eat and play with Bun but you can't leave or they'll be able to find you. It'll take me two days to gather the things I need for it but that should be plenty of time." 

He was trying to keep me locked up now? My heart feels as if it's freezing over as I look into his dark eyes and ask "Why can't you just tell me? Is there some kind of rule or curse that keeps you from telling me? I'm going to be completely honest with you Bai Lei, I don't like this. I don't like you hiding things from me and I sure as hell don't like being locked up."

He grinds his teeth as his eyes show determination saying "The less you know, the better. Just stay here where it's safe." He stands up and turns to walk out until I say "Fix this before it's too late." He comes to a stop but doesn't turn around. 

My heart painfully beats in my chest as I struggle to hold on. Please turn around, please. When he walks out without looking back or uttering another word, I feel a tear fall down my cheek. I clench my fists on the blanket under me as I try to force back the tears and pain.

His words keep spinning around in my head as I try to make sense of what just happened. He said I stepped in something... other forces at play... my mind races as I struggle to put things together. I get up and rip the blanket off the bed and onto the floor. 

Why!? Why hide things from me!? Why give me reasons to doubt you and leave room for misunderstandings!? You know... you know I have a hard time trusting and letting them in! Why!!? Dark energy seeps out of me as a strong wind starts knocking things over in the room.  

"AHHHH!!!" I yell out in anger and watch as everything in the room becomes destroyed. The candles are blown out and knocked over as everything else in the room ends up broken and destroyed. I collapse on the floor and pull my knees up to me as my vision becomes blurry from my own tears.

"You know how insecure I am... you know how weak I am..." I say as I slowly take comfort in the dark energy wrapping around me. Lies... you hand me lies and deceit and yet you want me to smile? Who smiles while willingly drinking poison?