Mything Persons

with an apologetic shrug that didn't look particularly

sincere to me.

Then it dawned on me where I had heard that voice

before.

"Right here," I said, rising from my crouch and step-

ping onto the road. "We've been waiting for you. I

think it's about time we had a little chat."

Aside from covering my embarrassment over having

been discovered, that had to be my best understatement

in quite a while. The last time I had seen this particular

person, she was warning me about Aahz's imprison-

ment.

"Good." She stepped forward to meet me. "That's

why I've been following you. I was hoping we

could...."

Her words stopped abruptly as Guido and Massha

rose from the bushes and moved to join us.

"Well, look who's here," Massha said, flashing one

of her less pleasant smiles.

"If it isn't the little bird who sang to the vampires,"

Guido leered, matching my apprentice's threatening

tone.

The girl favored them with a withering glance, then

faced me again.

"I was hoping we could talk alone. I've got a lot to

say and not much time to say it. It would go faster if we

weren't interrupted."

"Not a chance, Sweetheart," Guido snarled. "I'm

not goin' to let the Boss out of my sight with you

around."

"... besides which, I've got a few things to tell you

myself," Massha added, "like what I think of folks who

70

Robert Asprin MYTH-ING PERSONS 71

think frames look better on people than on paintings."

The girl's eyes never left mine. For all her bravado, I

thought I could detect in their depths an appeal for help.

"Please," she said softly.

I fought a brief skirmish in my mind, and, as usual,

common sense lost.

"All right."

"WHAT! C'mon, Boss. You can't let her get you

alone! If her pals are around...."

"Hot Stuff, if I have to sit on you. you aren't going

to...."

"Look!" I said, wrenching my eyes away from the

girl to confront my mutinous staff. "We'll only go a

few steps down the road there, in plain sight. If any-

thing happens you'll be able to pitch in before it gets

serious."

"But...."

"... and you certainly can't think she's going to

jump me. I mean, it's a cinch she isn't carrying any con-

cealed weapons."

That was a fact. She had changed outfits since the last

time I saw her, probably to fit in more with the exotic

garb favored by the party-loving vampires. She was

wearing what I've heard referred to as a "tank top"

which left her midsection and navel delightfully ex-

posed, and the open-sided skirt (if you can call two flaps

of cloth that) showed her legs up past her hips. If she

had a weapon with her, she had swallowed it. Either

that, or....

I dragged my thoughts back to the argument.

"The fact of the matter is that she isn't going to talk

in front of a crowd. Now, am I going to get a chance to

hear another viewpoint about what's going on, or are

we going to keep groping around for information with

Aahz's life hanging in the balance?"

My staff fell silent and exchanged glances, each wait-

ing for the other to risk the next blast.

"Well, okay," Massha agreed at last. "But watch

yourself, Hot Stuff. Remember, poison can come in

pretty bottles."

So, under the ever-watchful glares of my assistants, I

retired a few steps down the road for my first words

alone with....

"Say, what is your name, anyway?"

"Hmmm? Oh. I'm Luanna. Say, thanks for backing

me up. That's a pretty mean-looking crew you hang

around with. I had heard you had a following, but I

hadn't realized how nasty they were."

"Oh, they're okay once you get to know them. If you

worked with them on a day-to-day basis, you'd find out

that they... heck, none of us are really as dangerous or

effective as the publicity hype cuts us out to be."

I was suddenly aware of her eyes on me. Her expres-

sion was strange ... sort of a bitter half-smile.

"I've always heard that really powerful people tended

to understate what they can do, that they don't have to

brag. I never really believed it until now."

I really didn't know what to say to that. I mean, my

reputation had gotten big enough that I was starting to

get used to being recognized and talked about at the

Bazaar, but what she was displaying was neither fear

nor envy. Among my own set of friends, admiration or

praise was always carefully hidden within our own

brand of rough humor or teasing. Faced with the undi-

luted form of the same thing, I was at a loss as to how to

respond.

"Ummm, what was it you wanted to talk to me

about?"

Her expression fell and she dropped her eyes.

"This is so embarrassing. Please be patient with me,

72 Robert Asprin

MYTH-ING PERSONS

73

Skeeve ... is it all right if I call you Skeeve? I haven't

had much experience with saying 'I'm sorry'... heck, I

haven't had much experience with people at all. Just

partners and pigeons. Now that I'm here, I really don't

know what to say."

"Why don't we start at the beginning?" I wanted to

ease her discomfort. "Did you really swindle the

Deveels back at the Bazaar?"

Luanna nodded slowly without raising her eyes.

"That's what we do. Matt and me. That and running,

even though I think sometimes we're better at running

than working scams. Maybe if we were better at conning