I frowned. "Why wouldn't you be able to follow me when you're supposedly connected to my Chi?"
"The Chi is a complex form of energy that manifests itself in the form of your human vitality, spirit, and flesh. But when you become Aedh, you become an entirely different form of life—one that I am not attuned to."
"But I'm still me. No matter which form I take, it's my spirit, my soul, inhabiting that form. So I can't see why that would make any difference."
"The soul may be the same, but the energy force changes greatly. I cannot track that force, nor can I attune myself to it."
"Why not?"
He shrugged. "I do not know the whys, I only know the fact."
Huh. Helpful—not. "And yet you heard me when I was on the gray fields."
"Because I am a reaper, and the gray fields are our domain."
I frowned, splashed some more water over my face and neck, then turned off the tap and sat down on the edge of the bath. "Were you able to get a sense of the soul stealer's creator before you destroyed it?"
"Unfortunately, no. I thought it more important this time to rescue you. As I have said, your death would be inconvenient right now."
Meaning that in the future, my death might not be so inconvenient? Irritation flared brighter, but I wasn't entirely sure why. I really didn't expect anything else from a reaper.
"Well, I sensed her—she's evil, through and through. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get much more than that."
Or had I?
I frowned, thinking back over the impressions that had swamped me a heartbeat before I'd fled my flesh. The soul stealer had been at the base of the stairs when I arrived, looking up but not moving …
"But you would know her if you saw her?"