Stop! If this is your first exposure to Transformations, you are on the wrong book – this is the seventh book in the series. Please start with Transformations: Witnesses.
If you've read our other books, welcome back!
As always, your comments are welcome.
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Mrs. McGee, the church secretary looked at her nervously.
Stacie Fuchs smiled. Stacie wasn't dressed for a visit to a Catholic Church. The hem of her black leather mini skirt barely covered the top of her black stockings, and her white silk blouse was unbuttoned about two buttons lower than Catholic modesty would deem appropriate.
Mrs. McGee on the other hand wore a plain, white cotton blouse buttoned to the neck. Tortoise shell glasses were perched on her long nose, and her long brown hair was done up in a severe librarian knot on top of her head.
They weren't alone in the church office. Two old spinsters eyed Stacie with expressions of pronounced disapproval as they tended to their filing cabinets.
Stacie looked at Mrs. McGee and slowly licked her ruby red lips.
McGee blushed and began typing furiously at her computer keyboard.
The phone on McGee's desk buzzed. She picked up the phone and almost dropped it. "Yes, Father." She put the phone back on the cradle. "Father Ruiz will see you now, Miss Fuchs."
Stacie rose gracefully to her feet. "Thank you, so much." She winked at McGee, drawing another powerful blush from the woman's otherwise pale skin.
She walked to the office door and stepped inside.
Father Ruiz stood and nodded as she came in. He was a tall man of about forty-five, dressed in a black shirt and pants with the expected white priest's collar. "Please, come in, Mrs. Fuchs. Have a seat." He looked around her into the reception area. "Christine, can you bring us some coffee, please?"
At her desk, Mrs. McGee nodded quickly.
Stacie shut the door behind her. "Thank you for seeing me, Father."
Father Ruiz nodded. "I read your proposal for a multi-denominational 'faith' faire. I must say, I was intrigued by the idea. Please, have a seat."
"I'm so glad you approve," Stacie said as she sat down in the leather chair, making sure to let her skirt slide up to show the stocking tops.
"I... didn't say that," Father Ruiz said as he sat down behind his desk. "Normally, we are very open to joining with other faiths for the good of Ithaca. We work with the local Baptist Church, the Methodists, Temple Beth Israel, the local mosque..."
"Then what's the problem?" Stacie asked.
Ruiz picked up a sheaf of papers from his desk. "I have to say I had never heard of the Church of Morpheus. What I found was intriguing, to say the least."
Stacie smiled. "Really?"
"So much so that I contacted the Diocese in Buffalo. Someone there contacted the Cardinal of New York, whom I've never met. And, he evidently contacted someone at the Vatican... I've been a priest for twenty years, Miss Fuchs, and in all that time, I've never gotten a letter from the Pope's personal assistant before."
"Oh, my..."
He held up the paper. "The communication says: Father Ruiz, under no circumstances are you to allow contact between your congregation and any representative of the Church of Morpheus... it goes on, but to summarize it uses phrases like 'excommunication', 'in league with Satan', it even recommends bringing in exorcists if necessary."
"I thought exorcism was a myth," Stacie said with a smirk.
"You know, I thought it was too." Ruiz laid the paper on his desk.
The door opened and Mrs. McGee came in with a silver coffee service.
Stacie smiled and looked at the woman's legs in the proper gray pinstripe skirt.
McGee caught her looking and quickly departed after setting down the tray, her face once again crimson.
"I think I make your secretary nervous," Stacie said as the woman closed the door.
"She doesn't like being ogled," Ruiz said. "Cream?"
"No, I take it black with lots of sugar. Was I ogling her?"
"Yes. You've been ogling both of us," Ruiz said.
Stacie stifled a laugh. "I don't suppose that's a usual occurrence for you is it, Father?"
"More than you might imagine. Hazards of being a priest." He handed her the cup.
She brought it to her lips. "Harlots in your church?"
"Well, there is today," Ruiz said as he sat down with his own cup. He took a sip.
Stacie burst out laughing. "Father! What a tongue you have on you."
Ruiz raised an eyebrow. "Tell me, didn't you realize I would look into your organization? You're not exactly secretive. According to your Church's website you wish to transform society through sexual perversion..."
"If you mean throwing off the shackles on sexuality that your kind have inflicted on the human race, yes."
"I'm not going to debate morality with you, Miss Fuchs. I invited you here to inform you we will not be working with your church, and to inform you I will be instructing my congregation to steer clear of your organizion." Ruiz wiped sweat from his brow. "You're 'outed' in Ithaca."
"Oh, I've been out for some time, Father." Stacie smiled and casually spread her thighs.
Ruiz looked at her for a moment and then averted his eyes.
"What's the matter, Father? You look flushed." She twirled a lock of her long brown hair around her finger.
"I... I think it's time for you to leave," he tried to stand but only rose a few inches.
"My goodness, you do look flushed," Stacie said as she stood up. She leaned forward on his desk.
Ruiz's eyes went directly to her cleavage and the necklace she wore between her full breasts: the image of a man within an inverted pentagram, the stylized penis hanging down almost to the downward point of the star. He looked up slowly at her smile. "What have you done to me?"
"Me? Why nothing at all."
He reached for the phone. "Christine?"
Stacie eased the phone out of his hand. "He'll call you back, Christine." She hung up the phone and moved it away from him. Then she stood up straight and began unbuttoning her blouse. "Do you like girls, Father?"
Ruiz appeared to be having trouble focusing.
Stacie continued. "There was some debate. The Church is of the opinion that most Catholic priests prefer boys, but I thought I would try first before we brought in a man." She leaned forward and smiled. "I see from your erection I was correct."
"What do you want?" Ruiz whispered.
"To free you, Esteban... May I call you Esteban?" She walked around his desk and leaned against it.
"Get out."
"I'll make a deal with you: you call on God to save you, and if he makes an appearance, I'll slink right out of here with my devil tail between my very toned thighs."
"What did you give me?"
"I told you, I didn't give you anything. But, I do know that you've been dosed with a very powerful aphrodisiac."