Seth hugged himself miserably, gripping handfuls of his shirt. He wished he could stop existing. He had ruined everything!
"I will leave you with your life, Seth."
"Why bother?" Seth moaned.
"Because I sponsored your elevation to shadow charmer, and because you did me a great service. I owe you a debt of gratitude, and for that I will spare you, even though I know you will never serve me."
"Let's be honest," Seth said. "I'll try to stop you."
"Let's be honest," Graulas countered. "Resourceful as you are, there is nothing you can do about this. Not a thing. You would be wise to put it out of your mind."
"Please," Seth said, fighting back tears of desperation.
"Please, I healed you. Don't punish my family for it. Don't punish Fablehaven. Go free, do whatever, but if my aid meant anything, don't take the artifacts."
"My dear boy," Graulas said. "You do not comprehend the nature of demons. Your grandfather does, and some who work with him. It almost surprises me that you remain so naive. Did I ever bother to lie about my nature? I do not believe I did. Nagi Luna stretched the truth, perhaps, to make me seem more pitiable, and I acted somewhat more infirm than I felt, but I never misled you on this issue. Let me leave you with a final lesson. I am what you would call evil. Pure, deliberate, evil. I am aggressively self-serving. I take great pleasure in destruction. At times I cause harm to get gain, and at times I cause harm for the sheer enjoyment of breeding mayhem. So, will I take the artifacts? Seth, without a twinge of remorse, I will use them to unlock a season of devastation like the world has never witnessed. And, mark my words, I will revel in it."
Grinding his teeth, Seth tried to think of something to do. He saw one possible option. "Take me with you."
"No, no, my boy. Shadow charmer or not, I fully understand that you could never be my servant, except perhaps as part of a clumsy deception. Our destinies are no longer entwined. Should we meet again, it will be as enemies, all past debts settled. You will not be bored without me, Seth. There will be work enough to do here."
"What do you mean?"
Snarling, Graulas dragged his claws across the earthen roof of the cave, dislodging wormy clods of dirt. "I intend to pay my respects to this despicable zoo by overthrowing the foundational treaty and leaving a suitable amount of havoc behind. Like Bahumat, I never officially consented to my incarceration here. The treaty has no direct claim on me." Graulas sniffed the air, eyes narrowed to slits. He spoke in a lower tone, as if to himself. "I would free Bahumat, but the fairies buried him deep and sealed him well. There will be time to unleash him later. Kurisock is gone, Olloch more stomach than mind. I will take none of my brothers with me, but like any respectable demon coming out of retirement, I shall leave a great deal of chaos in my wake."
Graulas held up the Translocator. The device looked tiny in his huge hands.
Crouching, Seth snatched up a stone and flung it at the device. Graulas blocked the rock with his forearm. Baring his fangs and leaning forward, the demon struck Seth with a furious backhand. The blow sent him flying into the cave wall. Bones snapped, and he landed in a heap of agony, dirt and blood in his mouth.
"Do not irritate me," the demon growled. Chuckling softly, he sprinkled sand from the copper teapot over Seth. "The Sands of Sanctity bring amazing new possibilities to the field of torture. Imagine shattering bones over and over and over. Such alluring options ..."
Bones mended, cuts closed, and Seth sat up. He glared up at the demon with helpless fury, no words left to say.
"Final piece of advice?" Graulas offered. "Run away, Seth. Forget this backward circus of a preserve and flee to the farthest, most barren portion of the globe. Hide there for the rest of your life. Pray we do not meet again."
Graulas twisted the Translocator and vanished.
"No!" Seth yelled.
Scrambling to his feet, Seth ran toward the mouth of the cave. He had to warn Grandpa! Graulas had certainly never been inside the main house. The demon had probably never been in the yard, either. He could not teleport directly to the Chronometer. First the demon would have to contend with the magical barriers protecting the yard and house.
Out in front of the cave, sunset was dwindling, the first stars already shining. "Hugo," Seth shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Anyone! Help! Emergency! Help!"
Nobody answered, but he knew the way to the house from here--he had only to follow the rutted road. Seth took off running. The exertion felt good, kept him busy, provided the illusion that he was accomplishing something. After his gut-wrenching mistake, the last thing he wanted to do was think.
But it was hard to shut down his guilty mind.
Why didn't he see this coming? Grandpa had consistently warned him to stay away from Graulas! Seth had assumed his grandparents didn't understand the unique relationship he had with the demon. The dying demon had seemed so weak, and so helpful, that Seth had begun to consider him safe. Now the relationship had culminated in nightmarish betrayal, just as his grandparents had foreseen. If he had gone directly home with the artifacts, his family would be in a solid position in their war against the Sphinx. Now the opposite was true! He had befriended evil, and he had gotten burned.
Seth tried not to imagine all of the effects that would flow from his blunder. He tried not to envision Graulas slaying his family. He resisted visions of demon hordes rampaging across the globe.
Maybe he could stop it. Maybe he could beat Graulas into the house.
His breathing became more ragged, and his heart hammered, but Seth kept his legs churning. How much longer to the house if he kept up this pace? Ten minutes? More?
Something huge came crashing through the bushes off to the side of the road. Seth slowed, confident he recognized what was approaching. A moment later, Hugo loped out from under the trees. "Seth!" the golem bellowed, raising both arms.
"Hugo!" Seth exclaimed.
The golem picked Seth up, tossed him disturbingly high into the air, and caught him gently. "Seth not taken!"
"Whoa!" Seth laughed. "Good to see you, too! Hugo, we have an emergency. Graulas got loose and is headed for the house."
"Graulas?"
"I visited him and he tricked me. We have to hurry!"
The golem cradled Seth in one arm and bounded into the woods, cutting cross-country. Still panting from his run, Seth tried to calm his mind. Getting a lift from Hugo would let him reach the house much faster. But what would he do when he got there? Could Hugo defeat Graulas? Probably not. The demon was bigger and had unknown powers. What if the golem could at least wrestle away the Translocator? It would be worth a try. If that failed, they would have to try to escape somehow with the Chronometer. Where could they go?
From up ahead, Seth heard ferocious roaring. Bursts of light interrupted the deepening twilight. "See that, Hugo?" Seth asked.
"Demon attack house," Hugo replied, pounding through the forest.
The golem trampled a path through the lush, spring foliage, tearing branches aside and bulldozing through shrubbery. Minutes passed like hours. Flashes of light accompanied feral growls and distant sounds of demolition. Realizing that he was unarmed, Seth wished for his emergency kit.
When the yard came into view, the barn was already ablaze. Devouring flames raged up most of one wall and across much of the roof. Mooing like a foghorn, eyes rolling in terror, the immense form of Viola the cow stamped across the yard, giant hooves leaving deep impressions in the lawn. By the nightmarish light of the burning barn, Seth could see that half the house had collapsed, smashed in as if by some natural disaster. He did not see Graulas, but could hear glass breaking and wood splintering within the house.
"To the house!" Seth shouted.
Hugo took off across the yard with leaping strides. A great crash sounded within the house. The golem vaulted onto what remained of the back porch and entered the ruined house, striding over the remnants of missing walls.
"Coulter," Hugo said in a concerned rumble. The golem waded through rubble-strewn rooms to the entry hall, where they found Coulter pinned beneath a beam. Dust covered his mostly bare scalp. His little tuft of gray hair was matted with blood. He was mumbling, semiconscious.
"Get the beam off of him!" Seth cried.
The golem gripped the heavy beam, shifting rubble as he raised it. Grabbing Coulter beneath his arms, Seth slid him out from underneath. Coulter jerked his head toward Seth. "Run!" Coulter urged weakly.
"Demon gone," Hugo said.
Coulter clutched at Seth. "Seth? He got it. Graulas got the Chronometer. He also had the Translocator. He destroyed the foundational treaty. He used a spell to summon the safe that contained it. It hurried to him like a trained dog. He destroyed the documentation and undid the magic. I couldn't stop him. He smashed through the defenses in no time."
"It's my fault," Seth admitted wretchedly. "I was a prisoner at Living Mirage, and somebody snuck the Translocator and the Sands of Sanctity into my cell. I'd promised Graulas I would heal him if I could, so on my way back here, I stopped by his cave. As soon as I healed him, he stole the artifacts before I could react. He was so quick!"
Coulter closed his eyes, one cheek twitching. "I see." When he spoke again, he sounded more in control of himself. "Seth, you must listen to me. I don't have much time."
"Don't talk like that," Seth said.
"Hush," Coulter insisted. "I'm no tenderfoot. I've had plenty of injuries in my time, and I know what this is. Things got crushed, parts deep inside. I have minutes, maybe seconds. Listen. While Graulas attacked the barn, I grabbed the Chronometer. As he tore into the house, I watched from a window, trying to formulate a strategy. After I glimpsed you at the edge of the woods with Hugo, I used the Chronometer."
"Used it how?" Seth asked.
Coulter coughed wetly. "I visited Patton. Told him the Chronometer was about to be taken. Told him you were around."
"You should have run!" Seth said.
"I did run. Visiting Patton cost me no time. I didn't even make it to the front door. There was no escaping what happened. Graulas is too powerful. But listen. Since we knew you were around, Patton promised to leave you some advice. A passageway beneath the old manor leads to a secret grotto. Down in the cellar, beneath the manor, you'll find a fireplace against one wall. Step inside and say, 'Everybody loves a show-off.' That will open the way."
"Then what?" Seth asked.
Coulter grimaced, his breath hissing through clenched teeth. "We hope Patton has an idea."
"Where are the others?" Seth asked urgently. "Where is Grandpa?"
Coulter shook his head. "Gone. If they lost the Translocator, they were all captured tonight."
"All of them?" Seth asked incredulously. "Stan, Ruth, Kendra, Tanu, Warren ... all of them. I was ...holding down the fort. Vanessa is still here, down in the Quiet Box. Maybe she could Coulter gasped and coughed. "I grunted. "Do your best."
Hot tears flowed freely down Seth's cheeks. "I'm so sorry,
Coulter."
The old relics collector patted his hand. His eyes cleared for a moment and locked with Seth's. He seemed intent on speaking, but the words resisted. "Not your fault," he finally "' sputtered. He gripped Seth's wrist, "You're a good boy. They tricked you. You were ... showing mercy. Maybe we can get them yet."
"I will. I promise, I will, I really will." Coulter laid his head back, closing his eyes. His chest shook as if trying to cough, but only a faint strangling sound came out. His eyelids fluttered. His hands jerked. Seth looked up at Hugo. "What do we do?" Coulter exhaled one last time and then went limp and silent. Seth felt for breathing at his mouth and tried to find a pulse in his neck and chest. There were no signs of life. Trying to recall the first-aid basics he knew, Seth started rhythmically compressing Coulter' chest. Then he pinched Coulter's nostrils shut and breathed into his mouth a couple of times. He repeated the compressions and the breathing exercise, but Coulter remained inert
"Coulter gone," Hugo rumbled heavily.
Seth backed away from the corpse of his friend. Despite the words of comfort from Coulter, he could not avoid the conviction that he had caused this. Sure, the demons had designed and carried out the plot, but Seth had been the idiot they could design it around. Both Graulas and Nagi Luna had known he would do the wrong thing, and he had, and now Coulter was dead, Fablehaven was in ruins, and the artifacts were gone.
The weight of his regret threatened to crush him. Thanks to his lack of judgment, the Society of the Evening Star now had all the keys to the demon prison.
Chapter 14 An Unexpected Ally
T here seemed to be some confusion regarding where to put Kendra. She spent a lot of time waiting in smoky guard rooms as men and goblins haggled. When her escorts had finally resolved on a cell, just as she was being ushered inside, a stumpy goblin with squinty eyes and a face like a catcher's mitt showed up waving a written order. A tall, armored man and a potbellied goblin with a severe under-bite studied the parchment.
"Came straight from the top," the squinty goblin rasped importantly.
"I can see that, pugface," snarled the goblin with the underbite. "Why that cell? We haven't had a chance to properly examine it yet, what with all the commotion."
"You telling me no?" the squinty goblin challenged.
"I'm saying it don't add up," the other goblin groused.
"Not our place to do the math," advised the armored man. "Boss always has his reasons."