One Thousand Years to Forever Read online

“I’ll have the screen up and running at the meeting. You can communicate with me at any time,” Colum told them.

  “Yes, Sir,” the brothers said in unison.

  They drove up the drive and out of sight.

  Colum turned and walked towards the house. The door opened and Travis stood at attention.

  “Sir, coffee is to be served in your study for the meeting. Your father will be down in twenty minutes. The Council meeting is in less then one hour.”

  Both men walked through the door. Turning right, Colum walked the long hallway. On the wall that was dimly lit were priceless paintings. Colum stopped, turning he spoke to Travis, “Make sure we can keep a visual on her the entire time she is driving. Have the 360 degree camera going on in the Rover. I don’t want anyone near her. If there seems to be anything of a threat, well, you know what to do.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Travis went straight through a doorway, down to the cellar. Colum took a left down the few stairs to the living area and kitchen.

  He paused for a moment at the kitchen counter, where he grabbed a mug. It had been Katherine’s mug. Picking it up, he could still smell her from just her drinking her tea from it. She had been happy and slightly aroused. He was glad he wasn’t pushing it. He wanted her to become attracted to him on her own, naturally. Though he found it extremely hard to hold back.

  “Colum... ”

  Colum turned to the sound of his father’s voice.

  “We will be meeting in the Council chambers in thirty minutes, instead. There are many things to address today. I wanted to get an earlier start.”

  Colum found he was holding the mug so tight he could have broken it. “Has there been a positive ID on the man who was parked at Katherine’s?”

  “Yes... ” Cormac dragged out his answer. “We know he was from a Tunisian cell. They are probably sending another since I am sure if he didn’t report in they would have become suspicious.”

  “I have Travis’s nephews following her today.”

  Cormac went to the stove and turned on the water in the kettle. He liked doing little things like this rather than always waiting for a servant to do things for him. “Cup of tea?”

  Colum brought Katherine’s mug and placed it on the counter. “Yes, I will pour out the tea for us. I hope you don’t mind mugs. The day begs for a mug rather then dainty china.”

  Cormac laughed his deep rumbly laugh. “It’s hard for warriors such as we to use anything dainty. Though don’t suggest anything like this to your mother, she would have your head if you were to make such a suggestion.”

  Colum smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Mother is, well mother, and she will have her tea proper like, though if you were to give that spiel around her about warriors such as we, she will have your head. She is as battle hardened as any of us.”

  “Yes and that’s why she deserves a rest. Considering how old she is.”

  “Yes, and still so beautiful... ”

  “Well, I am glad you think so... ”

  Both men turned to see Elsabet standing there in her flowing, deep blue velvet dressing gown on.

  “Darling, Mother,” both said in unison.

  She gave her cheek to both men and smiled.

  “Remember Cormac, I am your senior... I may be older but I know I could best you in any area still... ”

  Colum enjoyed seeing his parents play like this. He heard a growl come from his father’s throat.

  “Woman, you could surely slay me and another hundred but you conquered my heart three millennium ago my dear. No need for battles, though I will show you something later in the privacy of our home that will surely surprise you.”

  Elsabet let her head go back and a laugh the sound of tinkling bells. “What am I to do with you?”

  Cormac came up to his wife. He wrapped his arm around her and nuzzled her face, not caring that his son was there with them. Elsabet looked like she could easily be fifty rather than almost four thousand years old. Her hair fell in a wavy mass of silver lengths to her waist. He laced his fingers in her hair and twisted the mane. Giving it a playful tug as he kissed her and then taking her throat he felt her satin skin under his lips. Gently nipping her neck brought a throaty purr.

  “You shouldn’t start something you can’t finish my King... ”

  Cormac laughed. “Truer words were spoken many a time just before a battle, my Queen. I will have my dessert later, but early.”

  Colum cleared his throat.

  Cormac and Elsabet turned, both, holding the other, smiling.

  “We have a meeting to go to and I have security to take care of for Katherine.”

  “She is still as beautiful as always. I think the quicker you can change her, the better for you. That way you can take the throne and not have to worry about her.”

  Colum nodded as he added water to his mug. “Yes, Mother I have thought of that but she will also be a hungry soul after and will need constant watching. I can’t take that chance at the moment unless it’s an emergency and needs to be done.” Seeing the look on his mother’s face. “I know Mother, she will be turned but in her and my own good time. She doesn’t even know me, yet.”

  Elsabet came up and hugged her son. “I just don’t want to see you hurt again like the last time. That would give me enough cause to turn her myself, if I knew something of that magnitude were to happen again.”

  “Don’t worry mother, it will all work out.”

  “I know, I know… I am just a mother when it comes to things like this and I feel for you, my son.”

  “Thank you Mother. I am glad you are on my side.”

  * * * * * * *

  “Mom…?”

  Katherine was in Victoria’s Secret, looking at bras, when her daughter tugged at her jacket.

  “Mooomm,” Sally said in exasperation.

  Katherine focused on her daughter’s face. “Yes, honey what is it?”

  “While you’ve been looking at bras we’ve been followed by those guys…”

  Katherine whipped her head around and tried to see what her daughter saw. “Where?”

  “Come on Mom, but don’t look obvious. They’re out there pretending to read, but one of the dopes has his magazine upside down... ”

  Olivia came up. “They aren’t speaking English either.”

  Katherine could tell both men were obviously not the typical mall goers. They were standing outside Victoria’s Secret. With a quick look around the store she could only see older women, so she knew they weren’t waiting for anyone. The man who had the magazine upside down was another giveaway.

  “Let’s go for a walk girls... ”

  * * * * * * *

  Colum was sitting at the meeting when his alert button on his cell phone went off. Looking around the room. “Excuse me for a moment.”

  He got up and walked swiftly to the next room in their bunker like setup.

  “Yes, what have you got?”

  “Colum... we have two men who have been following Katherine and the girls for the last forty minutes or so. Now, the girls have told their Mom and Katherine is leading them on a merry chase,” Thor said.

  Colum had to smile in spite of the situation and who they were obviously dealing with.

  “Keep a close eye on them, both sets. Do whatever it takes to keep Katherine and the girls safe. Use your judgment. Remember who she is and what she is to not only me but to our kind... ”

  “We’ve got it, Sir. We will take care of it.”

  * * * * * * *

  Travis’s nephews watched Katherine go from one shop to another. Then they watched as she turned, talked to her girls and sent them away. The girls were running in the direction of a cop who happened to be in the mall.

  “I think we better take care of this.”

  Both moved in as Katherine did.

  Katherine had been going from store to store and the men had followed. It reminded her of the book The gang that couldn’t shoot straight. She didn’t know why that thought came to her but these g
uys were not the best at whatever it was they were supposed to be.

  She walked up and pulled the magazine down from one of the guys. Shock met her eyes as she hauled off and punched him in the nose. A stream of some kind of curses met her ears.

  “That’s for scaring my girls.” Then she quickly got in close and kneed the one she had just punched. The man holding his nose doubled over, then dropped to the floor. The second one tried to leave but a hand caught a hold of him and pulled him off the floor. Then the girls, along with a policeman and a crowd swarmed in on them.

  One of the bystanders was more vocal then others, “They have been following you for sometime lady... ”

  “What’s going on here?” asked the policeman.

  “Mom, are you OK?”

  Katherine was looking over at the man who held the other jerk that had been following them. He looked a lot like Colum. Big, strong and menacing, given the situation.

  She watched as another came and pulled the policeman aside. The policeman looked at the ID he was given and then nodded.

  The two men grabbed the two perps and hauled them away.

  Katherine stood there with her mouth hanging open. Then she felt her phone vibrate.

  She turned to her daughter and held up her hand. The policeman smiled and started taking names.

  “Hello?”

  She listened to Colum’s smooth voice over the phone.

  “Listen, something strange just happened... I am not sure I even know what just happened but some men that looked like they could work for you, if that’s even possible, were here too... ”

  She listened and her eyes grew large. “You can’t be serious? This could have something to do with what I said nine years ago? I had every right to say what I did and I can’t believe they are hunting me down now... of all the nerve! They attack my country, kill my husband and expect me to just lie down and take it... well they have the wrong woman. Are those men yours, Colum?” She listened to him talk. “They are?”

  She listened some more. The more she heard, the madder she got. “You could have told me you felt I was being threatened... ” She listened some more. She wanted to punch Colum, too.

  “So maybe my car breaking down was all because of this? Maybe they did that to my car?” She was angrier than she had been in a long time. Usually, she and John would have a few fights a year. It had been over nine years since she had had a chance to get this upset, and it was all bottled up.

  “Well, I want to talk to those men, and don’t tell me that’s impossible. You call your men and tell them I want to see those jerks, who have obviously been trailing me all day. I want to not only punch the other one, but I want to ask them a few questions... ”

  She had heard smooth talking, but this was taking the cake. “No Colum, I am not letting you take care of it... entirely. Let me speak to those men or whatever you and I have started will be over!”

  That got the answer she wanted. “Thank you.”

  * * * * * * *

  Cormac saw his son coming back in, a smile playing on his lips. “What happened?”

  Colum sat down, feeling the eyes of the Council on him. He took a deep breath. “It would appear we have some terrorists among us. Two were actually following Katherine and the two girls around the mall. They are about to get a taste of a mother’s wrath.”

  One older gentleman leaned forward. “What do you mean?” A gleam shone in his eyes.

  “Well, let me explain... ”

  Chapter 4

  Katherine punched the same man again. Now he had a bloodied nose, and a swollen right eye. “I may not know torture tactics like you, but I am sure I could figure out some and be quite imaginative.”

  The man just sat there. He could feel her hatred. To them, she was just another job, an assignment... but in her eyes, they represented the men who had killed her husband. This man wasn’t stupid. If it had been him, he would be doing the same thing, especially if it involved his family. He hoped he could see his family again, but somehow he doubted it.

  “Why were you following us? You scared my girls, you’ve traumatized them... you bastards!” Katherine could see she was getting through to one of them, but the other, she could feel his hatred. The animosity was seeping from his pores. She felt it in waves. That made her all the more mad. She hauled off and kicked the second one, square in the balls. His head went down and she kicked him in the face. She kept kicking and punching until one of Colum’s men pulled her off.

  She was crying, swearing and beyond reason. She was hitting the smaller of Travis’s nephews as he tried to hold her. He knew he could be in trouble for holding her back. The other one got on the phone.

  * * * * * * *

  Colum answered his phone. About to excuse himself, he saw his father put his hand up, telling him to stay and take the call there.

  “Yes?”

  “Sir, I don’t think she will be in any shape to drive back. She wants to kill these men and I’m afraid that in her condition, she may go off the road.”

  Colum knew from the past that Katherine had a temper. At one time she had been a warrior also. “Can you keep her separated from those men till I can get there?”

  “Yes, Sir, but the only way we can contain her, for even a little time, is if you take the copter.”

  “My plan already. We will be leaving within ten minutes. My ETA is forty minutes.”

  Colum hung up and looked at the group. “Our future Queen is wanting to take care of things herself.”

  “What happened?” His father asked.

  Colum started to walk towards the door. “Let’s just put it this way, once Katherine got going she was ready to kill the both of those men with her bare hands. Had our men not been there she would have and she’s giving them a hard time now... I know only too well.”

  One man laughed. “If she is anything like she was at Clontarf she is going to be a mighty Queen, but you need to change her so we don’t loose her again.”

  “I know... I have been told that twice already today.”

  * * * * * * *

  Katherine sat with a cup of Starbucks coffee in her hand. She was slowly calming down, no longer shaking with the anger that had consumed her, filling her with blind rage. She now sat waiting for Colum to arrive. His two henchmen had the two spies in the Humvee. She had talked to the men who worked for Colum and they had said, “Don’t go anywhere, as Colum will not be happy with us if something happens to you.”

  So she sat. But then her blood started to boil again. She thought about how convenient it had been that her car had broken down. Now, why would it happen then of all times? Well, he had a lot of explaining to do, if he thought she was a push over or a lady in distress... he had another thing coming. She had never been one to back away from a challenge or danger. Working with EMS in the city, she had gone to her fair share of scary calls. And hadn’t she been right there searching and digging along with the men of her husband’s crew to locate her husband and others who were trapped that fateful day? Colum was going to find out just whom he had boxed into the corner... because that’s just how she felt and she wasn’t going to be boxed or coddled.

  She craned her neck out the Rover’s window to get a glimpse of the helicopter that she could hear coming. Sure enough, there was a black copter, with green marking, coming in for a landing. She got out.

  “Stay,” she said to the girls.

  She stood and waited while the blades of the helicopter slowed and then stopped spinning. The doors opened up and out climbed Colum from the pilot’s seat. Travis his butler, climbed out of the passenger’s side. He then turned and grabbed a bag from the back seat. It looked like a doctor’s bag from forty years ago. She turned her attention back to Colum who had turned and was now walking towards her.

  She felt his eyes on her. She couldn’t detect their color yet. She knew that told a lot about how he was feeling, what his temperament was like. She knew that from just the short time she’d spent with him: whether he was r
elaxed, excited or aroused. She knew at least once he had been aroused when he had kissed her and his eyes had turned a deep violet. As he got closer his eyes at first looked brown, but then she saw they actually were going from reddish brown back to a dark purple. She didn’t understand that, but right now was not the time to figure that out.

  She would wait for him to speak first.

  “Katherine how... ”

  Katherine couldn’t hold it in any longer. She needed to vent and here was her chance.

  She hit his chest with first her fist then started pointing into his hard, sculptured chest with her finger. She continued to pound on him. With either her fist or her finger. She was going to make sure her point got across one way or another.

  “How dare you... who do you think you are? I know it’s you or someone who works for you that made my car break down but for the life of me I can’t figure out why. And do you think I am a meek little woman who... ” She kept hitting his chest for emphasis. She could feel the rage starting to ebb, which was probably good because she was starting to feel stupid for taking it out on him. She knew he was just trying to protect her.

  Colum just stood there while Katherine hit his chest. She kept it up for a few minutes. Saying half sentences and then she finally collapsed into his arms. He let his arms wrap around her and hold her as he rubbed the small of her back.

  “You have every right to be mad at me. I can explain everything... But after, if then you feel you don’t want to see me... I will honor that wish, but please, hear me out.”

  He felt her go still, trying to calm her sobs and finally after a sniffle she looked up at him. Her eyes were red and swollen, tears still coursed down her cheek but she was a bit calmer. “I will listen and I know whatever was done was done to protect me and my kids, but please, in the future can you please just let me in on your plans?”