Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven #5)(94)

"Criminals?" Seth challenged. "We weren't the ones stealing."


"Who was stealing?" Cormac protested in a hurt tone. "I find a coin in the woods, I pick it up. Any honest chap would do the same. There were no potential owners in sight. I was salvaging."


"This could have been our camp," Newel argued. "We could have been off hunting."


"Aye, but you weren't off hunting," the leprechaun corrected with a wink. "You were skulking in the bushes, professional villains hoping to entrap an honest citizen of Fablehaven and extort his wealth. You're con men. You're extortionists. I demand to be released at once."


"Sorry, Cormac," Seth said. "We need you to take us to your lair and give us some items Patton left with you."


The leprechaun huffed and shook his head. "I'm not in the habit of storing items for friends, let alone archenemies. Do I look like a warehouse foreman to you? Do I look like a cargo handler? It's like I said, you're extortionists, and I won't stand for it."


"Call us whatever names you like," Seth said. "We caught you, and you're going to do what we want."


"You can start by returning our coins," Newel pressed.


Cormac gave him a blank stare. "Coins, you say? My memory is faulty of late. I'm sorry, lads. I'm afraid you apprehended the wrong fellow. I am custodian of no items, I've seen no gold, and I have no lair. I'm a humble cobbler by trade. I could repair a shoe or two, I suppose, if you require recompense to spare my life."


"We don't have a lot of time," Seth said. "Maybe we should just take your coat and call it even."


Cormac glared, lips pressed shut, cheeks reddening. Seth could feel him trembling. "Very well," he said cordially. "I can see you're no novices. What would you have me fetch for you?"


"You won't fetch anything," Seth said. "You'll take us to your lair, give us what we want, then escort us back out. I'm not taking my hands off of you until all of that happens."


Cormac tugged at his beard with his free hand. "Patton Burgess," he spat like profanity. "Will the scoundrel ever quit haunting me? Even from beyond the grave he reaches out to take what's mine."


"No," Seth said. "We just want the items Patton left with you."


"And our gold back," Newel reminded everyone.


The leprechaun hung his head, his body limp. Then he jerked hard against Seth, who maintained a firm hold of his arm. Cormac bit Seth's hand, but Seth held tight and flicked the leprechaun sharply on his ear. The little man howled as if he had lost a limb.


"Enough," Seth said angrily, shifting his grip to hold the leprechaun's legs. "Take his coat off."


"With pleasure," Newel said, going to work on the tiny gold buttons.


Doren snatched away the whiskey flask.


"No!" Cormac bellowed. "Please! I submit! You'll have the bell, the call, and the music box."


Newel kept working at the buttons, nimble fingers moving swiftly.


"And I'll return your gold!" the leprechaun promised glumly. "No more trouble."


"That's enough, Newel," Seth said. The satyr stopped unbuttoning the coat. Seth held up Cormac so they could stare eye to eye. "Any other trick, any other attempt to escape, the coat comes off, no questions asked. Then we'll shave your whiskers. And then I might go ahead and use you as a fishing lure. Don't test me. I've had a really bad week."


For the first time, the leprechaun seemed to stop acting. "You'll have no more trouble out of me, lad. You can't blame an old shyster for working a few angles? Tell me your name."


"Seth Sorenson."


"Well, Seth, for the first time since Patton Burgess, I seem to have met my match. I have not formally introduced myself. The name is Cormac."


"We're not doing this for fun," Seth said. "We really need those items. We don't mean to harass you."


"Which way to your lair?" Doren asked.


"Behind the waterfall," Cormac said.


"That one?" Newel asked, pointing upstream. "We've checked that waterfall for caves!"


The leprechaun gave him an exhausted stare.


"Right," Newel backpedaled. "Magic."


Seth carried the leprechaun upstream to where a curtain of water spilled over a twelve-foot ledge. Cormac tugged Seth's sleeve. "This is the tricky part, youngster. I need my magic to open the way, but your keeping hold of me inhibits my powers. Would you consent to let me go momentarily? I'll give you my word as a leprechaun not to slip away."


"Patton warned me that your promises mean nothing," Seth said. "And I warned you not to try any more tricks. I'll hold you by your beard. Patton said that will free you to open your lair without enabling you to use magic against me." Seth set the little man down on a rock, pinching his chin whiskers between thumb and forefinger.


The leprechaun snapped his fingers and the waterfall stopped flowing. A tunnel, square with rounded corners, appeared in the rock face behind.