She flushed and averted her eyes, but she nodded, whispering the word over and over.
I turned away, but she asked, “Wait! What’s a—”
“Ah, there you two are. It’s time to begin. We will not push the meeting so you can gossip in the halls,” Master Stin’ul spat.
I gave him a blank stare and waited until he reentered the room before reaching back to grab a quivering Angel. “Come on. The games are about to start.”
Chapter Sixty-Six
Most of the meeting went exactly as I’d described it to Grace. The ones that tended to bicker spent their time bickering. The Masters that didn’t pay any attention napped or fiddled with their ferrule. A couple seemed to enjoy the ridiculous nature of it all. I leaned back and feigned interest, although I devoted the majority of it to watching Grace out of the corner of my eye.
Consumed with her worry, she missed most of it and appeared to be concentrating on not vomiting. She tried to look confident, though. Every time she covered her mouth with her hand, she would make an awkward switch to scratching her face or yawning. She did it so much that Master Flenrue asked her if she’d been sleeping well. Master Stin’ul snorted and claimed that the Masters were utterly boring enough to put anyone to sleep. Finally, they turned to us, and Grace nearly slid out of her chair to escape the eyes on her.
“And what is the latest on the Earth situation?” Master Akai inquired.
I sat up straight and twisted towards him. “We are making progress. The reapings have increased, and we almost tripled our volunteers this past set. I believe that the volunteer count will continue to increase as the Angels brag about their contributions.”
Master Akai nodded, and his eyes skipped to Grace, but before he could question her about that part of the operation, Master Tilisa hopped in.
The rotund, bushy-browed Master leaned forward and raised a hand. When everyone turned to stare at him, he glanced around and grinned. He rarely spoke during meetings and asked questions even less often. It was outside of sessions that I ran the other way because he loved to corner us and drone on and on about the most mundane topics.
“Will the Angels receive compensation for insertions since the Reapers are getting them?” he challenged.
I considered him for a minute while I tried to recall if we’d even spoken about credits in regards to Angels. Would they? It’s only fair, but that was a ploy to gain more Reapers because they aren’t being paid in energy. The Angels will still acquire power. Wait. Is this why the King is taking credits from the Soulless?
Nausea churned in my gut, and I could taste the tabs I’d taken before we entered the palace again. Bitter and acidic spit filled my mouth, and I swallowed hard. I couldn’t think about that. Everyone watched me, waiting for an answer, so I had to push that aside and deal with it later.
“They are, but it is much less than what we allot for Reapers,” Grace said.
Her voice held a fine tremor, but she made it through her first interaction intact. Maybe that will give her some confidence.
“And why is that? Are you not concerned that they will talk with a Reaper and become angry about the difference?” Tilisa asked.
“The additional benefits are the reason for the difference,” I chimed in, no longer tasting bile in my throat. “The Reapers are not gaining energy with each retrieval. Death has long since passed these souls, so they are not gaining any power. Angels, on the other hand, will gain their own energy with each insertion. For them, it will be a typical off-planet trip. The only difference will be the scenery. Also, keep in mind that some animals can have ten, fifteen, hundreds of offspring at once.”
“And I doubt that many Angels are chatting with Reapers. Even if they overhear the exact amount that a Reaper receives per soul, the energy imbalance explains the credit imbalance,” Grace added, sounding more even.
“That brings up another question,” Master Stin’ul sneered.
I wonder if he scowls like that when he’s in bed with his partner. I shuddered at the visual image. Flenrue shot me a questioning gaze, but I ignored it.
“How many insertions have been completed so far, and how many can you project per set once the initial warm-up phase is complete?” Stin’ul’s lip twitched upwards as though it was confused.