One Thousand Years to Forever (19 page)

Colum could feel the laughter
bubbling up from her. Pulling her in, he said, “You are a marvel,
you know that don’t you? You and my mother will be running the
show, joint Queens and us men will have nothing to do but watch
along the sidelines. You have made the men putty in your hands.” He
pulled her in and kissed her soundly as he let his hands explore
her body. “I think I need a pre-Thanksgiving snack... ” he said as
he moved down her body.

* * * * * * *

Colum’s mother watched Katherine as
she and the women of her family moved around the kitchen finishing
up the grand meal they had been working on all morning. “You know,
my dear, your color is so much better than it was a few weeks
ago.”

Katherine looked up and pushed a
stray wisp of hair out of her face with her arm. She smiled. “Must
be my new diet.”

Issy looked up from the pie crust
she was working on. “Oh, and what’s that?”

Katherine looked at Elsabet with a
wink. “Lots of um, liver for my iron deficiency.”

Issy finished up and wiped her
hands on her apron. “Oh, I didn’t know you were having a
problem.”

Katherine got up and went to the
stove to turn off the burner for the homemade cranberry sauce. She
loved the swirl of color as she stirred it. “Yes, I was feeling
like a washed out rag. Colum’s been checking on other first
responders and people who survived, and the numbers of people who
are coming down with maladies, is alarming. It appears mine is just
a simple deficiency. Colum had me go to the family doctor who, umm,
is an expert in blood disorders, you might say.”

Katherine looked over at her future
mother-in-law, the Queen, who smiled at her. “
Phew,
if
only they knew... ”

* * * * * * *

Colum walked with Katherine’s
father and brother down the path to the new horse barn. He knew
that all of the younger kids, along with Thor and Odin, were down
at the beach. Being such a calm day, they had opted to go down and
see what they could find after the early season storm.

Colum showed the men the new horse,
which had come running right over. Colum had watched as her ears
had gone back and she had sniffed the air as he
approached.

“
It’s OK, Princess... you needn’t
fear me or any of us. You belong to Sally and are quite
safe.”

Katherine’s father watched the
horse danced around the paddock. “I don’t think you came down here
to show us the horse, entirely. Is there something you would like
to speak to us about?”

Colum thought speaking to young
John was bad enough but he felt worse having to ask her father and
brother.
“Well, might as well get it over with.”

He stood facing both men, cleared
his throat. “Sir, William, I wanted to have a few moments with you
down here to ask you if I may have Katherine’s hand in
marriage?”

* * * * * * *

Katherine had seen the men head
down to the new barn. She turned and bumped into the mug sending it
crashing over, tea spilling everywhere. “Crap... ”

Elsabet had seen the men also but
in her mind’s eye so she knew what was bothering Katherine, though
she knew the outcome. She need not fear. Katherine’s father and
brother would say yes. She also saw, but couldn’t see clearly, that
Katherine wasn’t going to be in her human form for much longer.
With any change came pain and sadness, but it would be for the
best, especially for their kind and Colum. She smiled at Katherine
who looked at her, ruefully.

* * * * * * *

All sat smiling, some rubbing their
stomachs. Katherine’s father groaning, “I won’t be having any
dessert for a couple of hours. Let’s see what games are on the
TV.”

Sally jumped up. “I’m going
riding.”

Issy watched as Thor and Odin
jumped up also. Two brothers, both tall and built like tanks. Odin
was the dark one and Thor was the lighter, with silver blond hair.
For guys that much older than Sally, it seemed strange to her that
they were so utterly devoted to a sixteen year old.

Katherine watched her sister-in-law
watch the brothers who walked out with Sally and some of the
younger cousins.
“Issy had always been a hard one to convince.
She couldn’t even begin to think how she could tell Issy who Colum
and his family were. Yes, she knew they were richer than most
royals of England or Europe, but the whole vampire, Fallen Angel
thing would not go well with Issy. Even the mere fact that their
Grannie had been a Fairy Queen... ”

Katherine smiled at her
sister-in-law and felt Colum’s eyes on her. She took his hand and
squeezed it.
“It would take something extraordinary to convince
Issy and her family about Colum and his real
identity...”

Katherine woke up and saw that
Colum wasn’t in their bed. She climbed out and walked down to the
kitchen. No one was around; everyone was still asleep. She looked
up at the clock and saw that it was just 6:45 in the morning. She
went to the fridge and saw that they were low on milk. She wanted
to make some pancakes but not knowing where anyone was she decided
she would go to the store herself. No one would miss her and she
would be back before anyone realized.

She put on her sweat shirt, grabbed
the Rover keys off the hook and went to the garage,

* * * * * * *

Colum walked up the staircase with
a stack of papers to read in bed while he waited for Katherine and
the others to wake up. Opening the door he had a clear view of the
bed. He saw that Kat wasn’t in bed as he closed the door. “Kat?” No
sound. He went to their bathroom saw that she wasn’t in there. It
was then that his phone buzzed.

“
Yes?”

“
Sir, this is Travis, the alarm
for the gate just went off. It appears Katherine has taken the
Rover... ”

Colum was already running down the
stairs yelling as he went. “Travis, get a fix on the Rover, get the
men and follow me... ”

Thor and Odin were in the barn with
Sally when the alarm went off. They looked at one another. “Sally,
get to the house quick, go to the bottom level and don’t move till
we come back.”

Sally had never heard the alarm,
didn’t know what it could mean. “But... ”

Odin came up to her quickly,
picking her up but holding her at arm’s length. “You must, little
bird, we don’t have time to explain but something has happened and
we can’t be with you. Do you trust us?”

Sally had never been touched by
either of them. Ever. It felt strange to be held up like she was a
fragile piece of art or something that was being
examined.

“
Do you trust us?” He
repeated.

“
Yes,” she said in a
whisper.

Odin put her down and gave her a
gentle push. “Then run to the house, get the others, and go to the
bunker. The King and Queen will be there when you
arrive.”

Sally ran, but not before giving
one last look as the two brothers took off running in the direction
of the garage.

Katherine’s parents woke to an
alarm. Jumping up, they looked at each other, baffled by the sound.
A knock came to the door. “Come in.”

Issy was with little John and Pat.
“We were told to go to the basement or bunker... something has
happened.”

Katherine’s father stood quickly
along with his wife. “Where’s Katherine?”

For the first time, John felt like
crying. “We don’t know... ”

* * * * * * *

Katherine was in and out of the
store and she hoped that no one would be the wiser. She would get
back, maybe get scolded by Colum and Travis, but nothing more. She
was about to turn the vehicle over when her door flew open and a
hand grabbed her. Turning she saw the face of some man, most likely
Middle Eastern from the looks of him, his face only inches from her
own.

Katherine was shoved roughly and
the man, pointing a gun at her head, slid in.

“
Do anything and I will shoot you
here. It doesn’t matter to me... ”

Katherine tried to think as they
sped out of the parking lot. Did she dare jump? She looked around
wildly but no cars were around so she would be at the mercy of this
man either way. She tried to think. There was her phone and saw it
light up. She went to grab for it without thinking. She hit the
talk button.

“
Don’t do anything I
said!”

Katherine screamed “Colum!” She was
hit on the side of the mouth, which made her head go slamming into
the side window.

Colum heard Katherine’s scream.
“Travis, where are they?”

“
Sir, they are heading south on
Route One.” As Travis watched the screen, he felt his nephews and
the other two men who had climbed into their Humvee, trying to look
over his shoulder. “They’ve just taken a right on to Main
Street.”

Colum shot down the other side of
Main Street and he saw the tail end of the Rover
disappear.

Travis looked over at Colum. He
knew the time had come and he knew this would be the hardest thing
Colum would even have to do.

Colum was trying to think clearly.
His Kat could be dead before he had a chance to get to her in time.
He was coming up to the stop sign as the Rover shot across the
road.

“
Sir, there is an abandon quarry
just up on the right.” They watched and sure enough the Rover was
pulling off.

Colum looked at Travis. “Travis,
this is going to be my kill, I need you to take care of Katherine.
You know what to do.”

“
Sir, if you will, shouldn’t you
be the one who changes her?”

Colum pulled off to the side just
before the quarry. He heard the men checking their weapons. He
shoved a knife into his boot and had his gun out and ready. “Thor,
get a video of this. We will send it to the bastards after, so they
think that Katherine was killed. That will end this. Then, later we
will launch a strike at their headquarters.”

“
Sir?” Travis said as they got out
of the Humvee.

Colum looked over at Travis as they
crept up toward the quarry. “Travis, as soon as he kills Katherine
you are to take care of her, don’t waste a second. I can’t lose her
again.”

Travis knew that this would more
than repay his creation of almost a thousand years ago. “It will be
an honor... you can count on me.”

* * * * * * *

The man pushed Katherine to the
edge of the quarry. He had found this place the other day on a
drive after he had arrived. He had been careful. No taking chances
in being caught and killed. He had seen the videos. These were not
humans, the group he was dealing with. Well, he would dispatch this
unholy woman, send her to her hero husband that she had so soon
forgotten, and then he would kill the men who he knew followed him.
He had two 9 mm guns strapped to him, and a third in his hand. More
than enough fire power to take these monsters down.

He brought the red headed whore to
the edge. “For so tough a woman who gave such a pretty speech you
have nothing to say now?”

Katherine turned her face to her
captor. Why had she been so stupid and impulsive? “You aren’t going
to get away with this. I can hear them following us.”

The man brought his face up to
hers. Katherine tried moving her face away, but felt her hair being
yanked so that she had to look him in the eyes. “See me whore? You
aren’t in charge any longer. They can’t save you or themselves.
They will die after I get done with you and they will
watch.”

Katherine’s head whipped around to
Colum’s voice. “Katherine, I’m here, we’re all here.”

Katherine saw Colum and felt a
flood of relief. Maybe she would make it out of this alive. She
felt the gun go back and forth from her head to her heart. “Colum,
I’m sorry I didn’t listen... ” She said in a very small
voice.

Colum saw the fear in her eyes.
“It’s OK, we will take care of you, and it’s all right. Do you
understand?”

The captor turned his face towards
Colum and his men. “Stop talking, don’t
you understand
,
she’s going to die and you can’t do anything about it. Then I will
dispatch all of you to whatever hell you came from. After that, I
will dispose of all your bodies in this quarry.”

Colum felt his eyes haze over. He
holstered his gun. There would be no need for it. This would be
quick, once the man killed Katherine.

“
Katherine, listen, I love you, I
always have... do you trust me?”

Katherine’s head was yanked back as
the gun grazed her temple. She nodded her head. “I love you,
Colum,” tears streaming down her cheeks.

Colum locked eyes with Travis.
“You know what to do.”

Travis looked at Colum, his future
King.
“Yes, Sir. You can trust me.”

“
Katherine, trust me it won’t last
for long.”