“Boss?” Aahz roared. “Boss?”
“No need ta shout,” Ajax grumbled, turning to face the assemblage. “We hear ya plain enough.”
“Ajax!” Tanda exclaimed gleefully.
“Tanda!” the old man yelped back.
She was at him in a bound, but he smoothly interposed his bow between them.
“Easy, girl,” he laughed. “None of your athletic greetings. I’m not as young as I used to be, ya know.”
“You old fraud!” Tanda teased. “You’ll outlive us all.”
Ajax shrugged dramatically. “That kinda depends on how good a general the youngster there is,” he commented.
“Kid,” Aahz growled through gritted teeth, “I want to talk to you! Now!”
“I know that temper!” Gus announced, emerging from the back room.
“Gus!” Aahz exclaimed.
“In the stone!” the gargoyle confirmed. “Are you in on this expedition? The boss didn’t say anything about working with Perverts.”
Instead of replying, Aahz sank heavily into a chair and hid his face in his hands.
“Tanda!” he moaned. “Tell me again about how this kid can stay out of trouble.”
“Um . . . Aahz,” I said cautiously, “could I talk to you for a minute … privately?”
“Why, I think that’s an excellent idea . . . boss,” he said.
The smile he gave me wasn’t pleasant.
“Kid!” Aahz moaned after I had finished my tale. “How many times do I have to tell you? This is the Bazaar at Deva! You’ve got to be careful what you say and to whom, especially when there’s money involved.”
“But I told them nothing was definite until we found out if you had hired someone else,” I protested.
“But I didn’t hire anyone else, so now the deal is final,” Aahz sighed.