could sit on the porch steps. At least the house was empty, although Zeus could see through the front windows it was furnished too. “Tell me what appeals to you about this place?”
“It calls to me.” Digging into his pocket, Paulie pulled out the phone Zeus had given him. Tapping the screen, he read from the listing. “It’s got a mile-long driveway, so it’s really private. And it has a huge other building too that has a shop and an apartment above it. I thought we could convert it into worker’s quarters, and you could employ some minions to run the cattle or whatever they do with them. But it was this. Look.” Paulie held up his screen, showing Zeus the pictures.
“It’s only got the one kitchen in the main house, but I love how the hallway upstairs is open, so you can look down into the living spaces.” He scrolled to show another picture. “And see here, it’s got a balcony sort of thing outside with columns, and even its own stone fireplace outside too. There’s a wine cellar, and a huge space which would be great for your office and library. It has heaps of wildlife around here, and…and…” Paulie hesitated before scrolling to the last picture. “You can get a lovely view of the sunrise from the porch.”
“Ah. That makes sense.” Zeus already knew he’d buy it for his sweet mate. This was the most excitement Paulie had shown since they started house hunting and Zeus could feel a calmness in his soul, just breathing in the fresh clean air. “Have you ever lived in the country before, or ridden a horse or anything like that?”
Paulie shook his head. “Never. But I used to listen to some of the old guys talk some nights, if they let me share their fire when I was on the streets. They’d talk about the wide-open spaces, and how clean the air was, and how you could see so far it was like you were in the middle of paradise. I’d go to sleep dreaming of those wide-open spaces where me and my tiger could be free.”
“Your listing mentioned hunting,” Zeus reminded him. “There’re elks, bear, partridge, deer – foxes even. It could be dangerous if people are wandering around with guns.”
“But you wouldn’t let them.” Paulie looked up from where he’d been studying his phone, his trust and love evident. “I don’t know what sort of godly mojo you’d do, but you would never allow anyone on our land with a weapon. I doubt non-paranormals would ever be allowed to get anywhere near any place we call home.”
“And this place really calls to you? You know, you can see the dawn, your father, from most spots in the world if you get out of bed early enough.”
“It just feels right.” Paulie looked over his shoulder at the huge wooden doors guarding the house. “Although, I suppose we need to take a look inside to be sure. Could we call the agent and see if he’s free to show us around?”
Zeus chuckled, as he stood up. “I’ve had enough of agents. How about we have our own look around and then I’ll call him and make an offer.” He held out his hand.
Paulie’s eyes widened as he looked at the hand and then back at the house. “You want us to go into a locked house? That’s breaking and entering,” he whispered, as though worried someone would hear him.
“Not if we don’t break anything.” Zeus curled his fingers in the ‘come on’ gesture. After a long minute, probably wrestling with his conscience, Paulie stood up and took Zeus’s hand, allowing Zeus to translocate them both to the other side of the doors. His mate’s gasp of pleasure, so rarely heard outside of the bedroom, gave Zeus an internal smirk. Following his lovestruck mate, he started eyeing up their new home, with a view to what improvements he could put in.
/~/~/~/~/
With the exception of Olympus, Paulie had never seen a place so grand. The plastered walls combined with strong wood highlights gave the place a warm feel, making Paulie instantly feel at home. As he wandered around slowly, he could feel the essence, the love that had lived within the walls. It was evident too in the slight scuff marks on some of the polished wood floors, a small fray in one of the giant rugs, and the line of soot in the giant fireplaces.
The bedrooms were all angled around the oddly