Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
“I’m fine,” Phoebe protested, even though it obviously wasn’t true. “I just need some rest, that’s all.”
“You’ll need more than that to get over touching The Finger of the Goddess,” Sirex said grimly.
“I’m afraid Sirex might be right.” It was Commander Sylvan, coming into the exam room as well. “Forgive me, Olivia, but I think we need some outside advice to solve this,” he said to the blonde doctor. “I’ve taken the liberty of calling Nadia. Since she’s the High Priestess of the Goddess on First World, she has information on the artifact that Agent Jenkins touched.”
“All right, when can we talk to her?” Liv asked, raising her eyebrows.
“I’ve asked the Communications Department to patch her call through right to this room.” Commander Sylvan gestured at the flat screen mounted on the far wall of the exam room.
Just as he finished speaking, the screen flickered and a beautiful woman with blonde hair and turquoise eyes appeared on it. She was wearing a long white robe and she smiled broadly when she caught sight of Commander Sylvan.
“Sylvan! There you are! I heard you had news for me about The Finger of the Goddess!”
“So we do, cousin.” Sylvan nodded at her. “I sent two agents to retrieve it for you and I have it now in my possession. But we have a problem—”
“Phoebe touched The Finger of the Goddess with her bare skin,” Sirex burst out. He looked more worried than Phoebe had ever seen him—clearly he couldn’t wait for Commander Sylvan to finish.
Nadia’s lovely greenish-blue eyes went wide.
“Truly? You have a woman who touched The Finger of the Goddess with her bare hands?”
“Er, yes.” Phoebe cleared her throat and tried to sit up in bed. This time, she was successful which was good—lying down while everyone else was standing made her feel too damn vulnerable. “I had no choice—I had to touch it,” she added, looking up at the Head Priestess. “It was the only way to get it away from the place they were hiding it.”
Nadia frowned.
“And how long did you touch it for?”
“Oh, um…” Phoebe tried to think how long she’d had the smooth opalescent crystal inside her. “At least an hour,” she said finally. “Maybe more.”
“You held it for that long?” Nadia exclaimed. “Why?”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Phoebe repeated. “Look, how much trouble am I in? I mean, is it radioactive or something? Did…did I give myself a lethal dose of whatever it is?”
She was hoping that the Head Priestess would say something like, “No, no—nothing like that!” and calm her fears. Instead, Nadia closed her eyes for a long moment. When she opened them, they were much more green than blue.
“All the males must leave the room,” she said firmly. “I must speak to Phoebe. Olivia, you may stay as well.”
Sirex didn’t look happy about leaving but Commander Sylvan put a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Come—I believe that Nadia is communing with the Goddess. We must not resist her orders.”
When the men finally left, closing the door behind them, Nadia turned to Phoebe again.
“There is something you’re not telling me,” she said, frowning. “Something about how you hid The Finger of the Goddess and why you retained contact with it for so long. Tell me.”
Phoebe bit her lip. She’d been determined to take this particular detail to her grave…but there was no refusing the stern Head Priestess.
“I…I had to hide it inside myself,” she said in a low voice. “I had on this crazy outfit that showed everything. I mean, basically I was naked and there was no place else to hide it. I knew if anyone saw me with it, they’d take it from me. So I kind of just…inserted it. You know…into myself.”
“What—like a tampon?” Liv asked blankly.
“Phoebe nodded.
“It was the only way. I’m sorry—I hope I haven’t, er, defiled the artifact or anything like that,” she added quickly. She also hoped she hadn’t given herself some kind of rare and dangerous poisoning but she was too afraid to ask that.
“Don’t worry, you haven’t poisoned yourself—nor have you defiled the artifact,” Nadia assured her, as though reading her mind. “But you have given yourself a serious disease—one you cannot cure on your own.”
“A disease?” Phoebe felt like her heart had stopped dead in her chest. “What kind of disease?” she demanded.
“And how can I help to cure it?” Liv asked anxiously.
“You cannot help her. Only a male may help,” Nadia told them. She looked at Phoebe. “Tell me—directly before, during, or after you were handling The Finger of the Goddess, did you have any kind of sexual contact with a male?”
“Oh, er…” Phoebe squirmed on the exam table.
“Please tell me everything—there is no judgment here,” Nadia said gently, clearly seeing her hesitation.
“I just…while we were on Salacious Prime, Sirex and I had to play parts,” she began. “It’s a male dominated world so I was pretending to be his Sex Slave and he was my ‘Master.’ So we…er, touched each other in ways we wouldn’t have otherwise. I mean, in a normal work situation.”