Sweet MYTH-tery of Life by Robert Asprin

What was it exactly that I wanted . . . and from who?

Still lost in thought, I opened the door to my room . . . and found a demon waiting for me.

Chapter Fourteen:

“Take a walk on the wild side.”

-G. GEBEL-WILLIAMS

NOW, THOSE OF you who have been following my adventures are aware that there is nothing new about my finding a demon in my room. It’s not all that unusual these days, though I still have trouble from time to time getting used to it.

Of course, some demon visitors are more welcome than others.

This one was a cute little number. She had close-cropped brown hair which framed a round face with big, wide-set almond-shaped eyes, a pert little nose, and small, heart-shaped lips. She also had a generous number of curves in all the right places, which the harem outfit she was wearing showed off with distracting clarity. The only trouble was, she was tiny. Not “small,” mind you . . . tiny.

The figure in front of me, delectable as it might be, was only about four inches high and floated in midair.

“Hi!” the diminutive lady chirped in a musical voice. “You must be Skeeve. I’m Daphnie.”

There was a time when I would have found the effect unsettling. Courtesy of my recent travels, however, I had seen it before.

“Don’t tell me, let me guess,” I said in my most off-worldly, casual manner. “You’re a Djin. Right? From Djinger?”

“Well … a Djeanie, actually. But if we’re going to be friends, no wisecracks about the Djeanie with the light brown hair. Okay?”

I stared at her for a moment, waiting for her to provide the rest of what was obviously supposed to be a joke. Instead of continuing, though, she simply looked back at me expectantly.