of all. It's already been pretty much decided to let your

love-light go. Think of it as a present from us to you.

The other two are ours."

Five minutes ago, that would have made me deliri-

MYTH-ING PERSONS 151

ously happy. Now, it only seemed to complicate things.

"But Chumley was just saying that there's a chance

they might hurt her if they find out she helped us," I ex-

plained desperately. "Can't we just let them all go?"

"Not a chance, partner," Aahz said firmly. "In addi-

tion to our original reasons, you've just mentioned the

new one. Your girlfriend could be in trouble, and the

only way to be sure she's safe is to remove her partners

.. .Fast."

"Believe him, Skeeve," Tananda urged. "It may not

be nice, but it's the best way."

"Really, Boss," Guido said quietly. "Unless we fin-

ish this thing here and now, you're never goin' to know

if she's safe, know what I mean?"

That almost made sense, but I was still worried. "I

don't know, Aahz. ..."

"Well I do," my partner snapped. "And the longer

we stand down here, the more chance there is that

they'll either get away or set up a trap. If you're uncer-

tain, stay down here ... in fact, that's not a bad idea.

Massha, you stay down here with him in case they try to

bolt out this way. While you're waiting, watch for the

witnesses that Vilhelm's supposed to be sending along.

Tananda, you and Chumley and Guido come along with

me. This is a job for experienced hard-cases. Pepe, we

appreciate your help, but this isn't really your fight."

"But of course." The werewolf grinned. "Besides, I

am a lo-var, not a figh-tar. I will wait here to see the

finale, eh?"

"But Aahz.. .."

"Really, partner, you'll be more help down here. This

isn't your kind of fight, and we need someone to deal

with the witnesses. You're good at that kind of thing."

"I was going to ask if you had given the signal to

Vilhelm."

152 Robert Asprin

"S'ignal?" Aahz blinked. "How's this for a signal?!"

With that, he tore off his wig and threw it on the

ground, followed closely by his dress.

"Think he'll get the message? Besides, no way am I

going to try to fight in that get-up."

"Now you're talkin'!" Guido crowed.

In a flash he had discarded his cloak and was pulling

on his now-familiar trench coat.

"Where did that come from?" I demanded.

"Had it with me all the time," the bodyguard said

smugly. "It would have been like leaving an old friend

behind."

"Well, if you and your old friend are ready," Ta-

nanda murmured, "we'd better get started.

"Itching for action?" Aahz grinned.

"No. More like eager to get off the street," she said.

"Since you boys have shown your true colors, we're

starting to draw a crowd."

Sure enough, the vampires on the street had ceased

whatever they had been doing before and were gathering

in knots, whispering together and pointing at our group.

"Umm... we'd better finish this fast," Aahz said,

shooting a nervous glance around. "All right, gang.

Let's go for the gusto!"

"Go for the what?" I asked, but they were already on

their way into the building.

I noticed they were all moving faster than normal. I

also noticed that Massha, Pepe, and I were the only

ones left on the street... and now the crowd was point-

ing at us!