Lesser Gods Ch. 06-09

Stopping, but not turning, Grey said, "You cannot read me unless I allow it."

Zoe scuttled toward the library without looking back at Grey.

She spent the rest of the evening in the library with Enrique. They talked about his transition, and his life as an angel, though he preferred to just call himself a soldier. He asked Zoe what she had seen when she read him, and she reiterated that she saw them riding together.

He asked, "You didn't see this," and he leaned toward her and kissed her. It was a sweet, lingering kiss, and it made Zoe smile when he pulled back to look at her.

"Well...maybe I saw a little of that," she admitted.

"Only a little," he murmured as he leaned in for another.

This kiss lingered and began to turn a little heated. Zoe pulled away and said, "I think I'd better go up to bed, it's getting late."

"Alone," he said, a devilish glint in his eye.

"Yes, alone. I thought you were in tight with God. Doesn't He frown on that kind of thing?" she retorted.

"God prefers fidelity, for the protection of human hearts, but we live a very long time, and see things most humans never see. God doesn't demand much of anyone, but does hope for our happiness. We decide how to live with what we know," he said. "I'll walk you upstairs, if that's all right."

"Sure," she answered, pulling on his hand to get him moving.

At her door he pulled her close for another long kiss. Zoe reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, tiptoeing to meet his lips. She was a little breathless when they separated.

"Maybe you'll dream about me," he said, still holding her close.

"Maybe I will," she answered, tiptoeing one more time, intending to give him a quick peck before going into her room, but stopped when she heard Grey's voice.

"If you have a moment, Enrique, I'd like to speak with you before you retire."

Zoe knew she must be blushing as she quickly stepped back away from Enrique and bumped her head on her door frame. Enrique reached out and touched her head where she bumped it, bending her forward a bit and planting a kiss on the spot.

"Careful! I like that head the shape it is already," he said, then turning to Grey, "I'll be there in a moment. The command center?"

"Yes," said Grey as he walked back down the opposite hall.

How she wished she could read him! Was he hurt? She knew she didn't owe him anything because of the visions, but she didn't want to hurt him if she could help it. What a strange situation she'd landed in!

"Goodnight, Zoe. See you in the morning. We'll ride between visits from the legion members, okay?" Enrique asked.

She nodded and he turned and loped off down the hall after Grey. It certainly was easier to be with someone who didn't read your mind, didn't know everything you were feeling, and whose touch didn't bring myriad emotions to the fore. But, as nice as his kisses were, they didn't stir her the way the images of kissing Grey did. Oh, what was she going to do?

Nine

Journal of a lesser god

An unexpected turn of events has me more distraught than I have any right to be. Zoe has taken to Enrique's charms! She has consented to stay, but only, I think, to be with him. It tears my heart out to see her in his arms! I love Enrique as a son, he is a good soldier and a wonderful person, but I had already come to think of Zoe as mine. Foolish! She has a right to love who she will, and I vow I won't do anything to separate them, but must it hurt like this?

*****

The night passed without any nightmares. She awoke early, as usual, and got ready for a day of riding and caring for horses.

It appeared no one else was up yet, except the Haskins who had set out cut fruit, a selection of cereals, milk and coffee on the sideboard. Zoe took a cup of coffee with heavy cream and sweetener and sat in one of the window seats, facing the rising sun. It was cool in the morning, so she could feel the sun's rays as it crested above the tree line. She closed her eyes, smiling into the sun. A thought ran through her mind, 'this is what God's love is like,' and she wondered where it came from. Maybe that was Him revealing Himself.

Grey walked into the dining room and straight to the sideboard where he poured himself a cup of coffee. He turned and saw Zoe watching him from the window. "Good Morning," he said, startled just a little.

"It is a good morning isn't it? Zoe responded with a dazzling smile.

"You seem happy. Did something happen I'm not privy to? Grey asked, with a tentative grin.

"Nothing special. Just the sun coming up and shining on my face. I've always been a morning person, and I think it's because I love to greet the sun when it comes over the horizon," Zoe explained.

Grey walked to the window she was looking out and leaned into the bay a bit so he could see the sun coming up as well. They were both silent for a minute. The joy of a sunrise seemed to intensify with Grey so close to her. He put his free hand on her shoulder, squeezed it gently, and when she looked up at him, he was smiling down at her.

She smiled back at him. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she turned back to the sun and Grey walked back to the sideboard. "I think you will bring a freshness to life around here that I really need." He poured more coffee, took some fruit, nodded at her and left the room.

Zoe poured herself some cereal and added fruit, then sat at the table to eat. She was surprised when a tall, well-built, stranger walked in.

"Hello," he said, "My name is Francis Weaver. I'm here for you to read."

"Hello, Francis," Zoe responded. "Help yourself to anything on the sideboard."

He poured some coffee and sat across from her. She started reading him. She saw only herself sitting across from him. She concentrated on seeing past herself. He laughed.

"What's funny? Zoe asked.

"Grey warned me you might glow, but he didn't tell me you scrunched up your eyes like that. It's pretty funny," he answered.

"Thanks, I need that kind of encouragement," she said sarcastically. She concentrated on him again, but only saw him leaving by the front door.

"This is pointless," she said in disgust, "I can't see anything past a few minutes from now, and nothing that I'm not going to witness myself. I'm not ready yet."

Enrique walked in at that moment and said, "It takes practice. Did you really think the first time you tried to see beyond your own interaction with someone it was going to work?"

"No, but I feel like I'm wasting everyone's time when I don't see anything," Zoe said in a huff.

"Just keep trying. Maybe concentrate on a particular time in the future and see if that helps," Enrique encouraged.

"Yeah, 'cause you know so much about being a seer," she replied irritably.

"No, but I have plenty of practice at learning new skills, and the only way to do it is to keep trying," Enrique said gently.

Abashed, Zoe answered, "I'm sorry. I never have handled frustration well. I don't like things to take time and patience. I never learned to play a musical instrument because I wouldn't practice."

"You don't know how to play an instrument?" Enrique said in horror, "You can't be an angel if you can't play an instrument."

"What?" Zoe asked, confused and concerned, "No one said anything about that before!"

"Gotcha!" said Enrique with a big smile.

Zoe jumped up and punched him hard in the upper arm, only to pull her hand back and cradle it in her other arm in pain. "What are you made of, solid rock?"

"Are you ok?" he asked in concern, taking a hold of her wrist to inspect her hand.

"Gotcha!" she said in delight.

He gave her wrist a yank to pull her to him and planted a kiss on her lips. "I guess we're even then," he said, snaking his other arm around her.

"I guess so," she smiled up to him.

"And you're in a better mood," Enrique continued, as she continued to smile up at him.

"Don't mind me over here," said Francis, with mock hurt, "I'm only here so she can practice on me, which isn't nearly as important as a morning make-out session."

Zoe cleared her throat as she disengaged from Enrique's resistant arms. He faked a frown as she turned back to Francis.

"I'm sorry. Let's try it again. How about you tell me where you are going after this, and I'll try to focus on that," Zoe suggested.

Francis smiled mildly. "I'm going to DC, to congress actually, if that helps."

Zoe sat down next to him, holding him in her mind's eye, she closed her physical eyes and imagined him leaving and travelling to the capital. She had seen congress as a child, but didn't really remember it, so she just held the general image of a large room with rows of seats in her head. Slowly her image gave way to a slightly different room, populated with men and women in suits, microphones at each small desk. Half the room was empty, and a man was at the main podium appearing angry, but she couldn't make out a word he was saying, it was all garbled. A few of the people on the main floor rose and walked out. Then the image faded.

"What did you see," Francis asked.

"How do you know I saw anything?" Zoe retorted.

"Well, besides glowing, your face changed and you tilted your head like you were trying to hear something," he responded.

She remembered Grey telling her not to show everything on her face. She would have to work on that, too.

"Do you expect to attend a heated discussion in congress, one that could cause people to walk out?" she queried.

"Yes," Francis answered with disbelief, or maybe awe, "I'm going so I can encourage someone not to walk out, but rather to stay and discuss the issue rationally. That's pretty amazing! What did you hear?"

"I couldn't make out the words, I could only tell the speaker seemed angry and some of the audience seemed disgusted," Zoe answered, a little amazed at her success.

"There! I knew it wouldn't take much for you to move to the next level," Enrique congratulated.

Francis stood up, "I'll let Grey know of your success before I leave. Good luck, Zoe. I think you are going to be a great addition to our team."

"Thank you, Francis, and good luck to you today," Zoe continued, "I didn't see you in the vision, so I don't know if you will be successful or not."

"Probably because I will be invisible, your vision didn't show me there," he suggested.

Smiling, Zoe said, "Yeah, maybe that's it."

Francis left the room, nodding to Enrique as he went.

"You ready to ride?" Enrique asked.

"Sure," she answered.

They worked for an hour or so before the next guinea pig came by. Zoe was surprised it was a woman, though when she thought about it, there was no reason for there not to be just as many women among the angels as there were men. This woman was strikingly beautiful: five foot ten or eleven, 150 pounds, muscular, yet shapely, long auburn hair, light green eyes, and full lips that pursed enticingly at Enrique, causing Zoe a flash of jealousy.

"Hello," the stranger said with a French accent. "I am Genevieve. Grey sent me to have you read me."

"Hi. I'm Zoe. Would you like to sit on the back porch while we do this?"

"Whatever makes you happy, mon cher," she answered with her silky voice.

Zoe felt like a stray dog beside this woman. Was every angel gorgeous? She remembered that Francis had been pleasant looking, but not exceptional, so it wasn't every one of them. Shoot, why did she have to be one of the unlucky plain ones?

"Are you coming, Enrique cher?" Genevieve asked, again pursing those glossy lips.

"No," was all he said and he turned back to the horses.

Zoe smiled to herself as she set off for the porch, quite happy to have Enrique reject Genevieve's overtures.

Genevieve sat in a wicker chair and turned to face Zoe as she sat on the little love seat. Zoe consciously smoothed her face, closed her eyes and thought about Genevieve. All she saw was those long legs, that pouty mouth. She opened her eyes to look Genevieve in the eye, again, then pushed at her mind's eye. She saw a brief flash of Genevieve talking to someone Zoe didn't recognize, but it was gone in an instant. She tried again, but couldn't seem to get any vision to come in clearly.

"What do you plan to do later today?" Zoe asked, hoping that would work again.

Genevieve answered, "I will visit with Grey for lunch, then I will return home."

"Where is home?" Zoe asked.

"Why, Quebec of course," She answered with a touch of scorn.

"Yes, of course," Zoe replied, trying to stay pleasant, but liking this woman less and less all the time. She tried to think about Quebec, but she had no idea what that would be like, never having been there. All she saw were blurry images of Genevieve moving amongst a group of people, and what appeared to be Genevieve bending and kissing a man's hand. That was weird!

Zoe continued to try to see Genevieve's future for about ten minutes when she decided to give up. Genevieve had sat there looking at her nails, checking her makeup, and then tapping her fingers on her leg the entire time, so she was quite happy to be released.

"I will tell Grey that you failed," Genevieve said without rancor, and turned to head inside.

Zoe wondered what effect Genevieve had on Grey, hoping it was similar to Enrique's, but quickly realizing she had no right to care what that effect might be.

Returning to the barn, Zoe found Enrique brushing War Monger, and talking to him softly. She listened to the conversation and was embarrassed to find Enrique was telling War Monger to be nice to her, that he (Enrique) really likes her and doesn't want the horse getting any ideas about treating her poorly. She cleared her throat to announce her presence and Enrique smiled easily and left the horse's stall.

"I was just having a little heart-to-heart with War Monger. He doesn't like being left out of the loop," he said, rolling his eyes at the end. "Never met such a touchy beast as that one."

"He really cares about the affairs of humans," Zoe asked, curious.

"Affairs, plans, moods, he wants to know it all, but affairs are best, don't you think," he said with a wink, and reached out for her.

She let herself be pulled into his arms. "You are incorrigible!"

"Oh, please, encourage me!" he responded, leaning in for a kiss.

Zoe pulled away and Enrique stopped.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

She hesitated, then answered, "not wrong, just not right. I think we should take this slower. I don't really know what life has in store for me right now, and I don't think I'm in a position to commit to anything. Does that make sense?"

Enrique loosened his hold on her, but didn't let go completely. "Yes. I don't like it, but I understand. I respect your feelings, and will do as you ask. Just please ask," he said, winking again.

"You are too cute!" Zoe said, and wanted to kiss him, but having just said she wanted to back off, decided to move away instead. He let her go, but followed her out of the barn.

"How did it go with Genevieve?"

"Not very well. I only saw some blurry visions that didn't really make sense. I guess I'm not progressing so fast after all," she said, sounding crestfallen.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. It will get easier. It's probably just her thick skin that prevented you from seeing clearly," he responded, stressing 'thick skin' in a nasty way.

"I take it you don't care for Genevieve much?" Zoe asked.

"Not much, no. She is a flirt, and ...well, I don't trust her," Enrique said with more negative emotion than she had ever heard from him. His normal happy continence was replaced by a scowl.

"Wow! She must be something to make you look like that," Zoe said.

"She's something, all right. I just don't think it's an angel of light," he stated scornfully.

"Does Grey trust her?"

Enrique turned away and said, "You'll have to ask him that."

Zoe thought that was a strange response, but let it go. Obviously there was more here than met the eye. Unfortunately, her third eye wasn't helping her to see it this time around.

*****

The day continued similarly, with Zoe and Enrique riding for a time after lunch, and two more team members coming by for her to read. The first visitor Zoe was able to read easily, but saw nothing of import. The second was harder to read, but once she got a line on him, she was able to warn him that a human he was working on, trying to keep on the straight and narrow, was going to experience a drug overdose when he got his hands on some strong heroine. The angel thanked her and immediately left the mansion to start working on keeping the young man away from his dealer. Zoe finally felt a sense of accomplishment that her gift might actually help someone.

Enrique was true to his word, not trying to kiss her, or even embrace her, but he took every opportunity to touch her hand, arm, shoulder, and face that he could find. She smiled thinking about him, so open with his feelings, so free with his affection. She had always been a little repressed with her own emotions, a little aloof in her relationships, and she found Enrique's openness touching. If only she was sure that was what she wanted! She couldn't help pulling out those visions with Grey and examining them. Was that what she ought to pursue? She just didn't know, and if she was only going to see Grey at meals, would she ever get to know him enough to decide?

10/21

Where is she? I have everyone searching, yet no one has information. I need to see what makes her special, before he turns her.