Hit or Myth by Robert Asprin

I settled back to wait patiently. This was going to take a while, but I was confident of the eventual outcome. I also knew that whatever fee Aahz was thinking of originally just got doubled when the Deveel made that ‘Pervert’ crack. As a Pervect, Aahz is very sensitive about how he’s addressed . . . and this time I wasn’t about to argue with him.

“I love it!” Aahz crowed, modestly. “Not only are we getting a steady income from- both the Mob and the Deveels, we don’t have to do a thing to earn it! This is even better than the setup we had at Possiltum.”

“It’s a sweet deal, Aahz.”

“And how about this layout? It’s a far cry from that shack you and Garkin were calling home when we first met.”

Aahz and I were examining our new home, provided as an extra clause in our deal with the Bazaar merchants. It was huge, rivaling the size of the Royal Palace at Possiltum. The interesting thing was that from the outside it looked no bigger than an average Bazaar stall.

“Of course, holding out for a lifetime discount on anything at the Bazaar was a stroke of genius, if I do say so myself.”

“Yeah, Aahz. Genius.”

My mentor broke off his chortling and self-congratulations to regard me quizzically.

“Is something bothering you, Skeeve? You seem a little subdued.”

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Come on. Out with it,” he insisted. “You should be on top of the world right now, not moping around like you just heard that your dragon has a terminal illness or something.”

“Well, it’s a couple of things,” I admitted grudgingly. “First, I’ve got a bad feeling about those deals you just put together.”