"I have taken precautions this time." His cultured tones reverberated around the small room, and his presence—or rather the energy of it—was almost smothering. "They will not sense me in this house just yet."
"Why not? What have you done this time that’s any different?"
He paused, as if considering his reply. "Because I was once a priest, I emit a certain type of energy. If I remain stationary for too long, they can trace me."
Facts I knew, thanks to Azriel. "That doesn’t answer my question."
"Wards have been set. They not only give misinformation as to my whereabouts, but they will prevent any beings such as myself from entering."
Hence Azriel’s failure to appear. Reapers were energy beings, the same as the Aedh.
I didn’t bother asking how’d he’d actually set the wards when he couldn’t interact with this world, simply because he’d undoubtedly had his slaves do it. Or rather, his Razan, as the Aedh tended to call them. "And are you sure these wards will work?"
"Yes. I have no wish for you to be captured a second time."
So he knew about that—and it meant he was keeping a closer eye on me than I’d assumed. "So why are you here? What do you want?"
"I want what I have always wanted—for you to find the keys."
"And destroy them?"
"That goes without saying."
Did it? I really wasn’t so sure. "You haven’t yet told me what will happen when the keys are destroyed, and I’d prefer to know that before I do anything rash." Like endanger the very fabric of my world.
The heat of him drew closer. It spun around me—an almost threatening presence that made my skin crawl. And it wasn’t just the sheer sense of power he was exuding, but the lack of any sense of humanity. This was a being who’d worn flesh rarely even when he was capable of it, and who had no love or understanding for those of us who did.
Which made his desire to find and destroy the keys even more puzzling. Why would he care what would happen to this world if the keys were used? He wouldn’t. Which meant something else was going on. Something he wasn’t telling me.