Sweet MYTH-tery of Life by Robert Asprin

“Oh, it comes in handy,” I said loftily, producing the item under discussion with a flourish. “Keeps me from having to carry too much cash, you know.”

The card disappeared from my fingertips as Cassandra seized it and gaped at it in open awe.

“A solid gold card!” she exclaimed breathlessly. “Wow! You sure know how to show a girl a good time, Tiger. Are we going to party tonight!!”

Before I could stop her, she had grabbed my hand again and plunged into the crowd, holding the card aloft like a banner.

“Excuse us! Coming through!”

The people in line who we were elbowing our way past didn’t like it. A few went so far as to bare their fangs in annoyance. The card seemed to have some magik effect, though, because, after one glance, they all stepped back and cleared a passage for us … or, rather, for Cassandra. I just trailed along in her wake.

There was a velvet rope barring the door, and a big guy beside it whose only function seemed to be to admit people a few at a time as others left . . . that, and be intimidating. I mean, he was BIG . . . and that’s coming from someone who has his own bodyguards. As soon as he spotted the card, however, he snatched the rope from the door, shoving a few of the line people back to open a path for us, and actually tried to twist his features into a smile as we swept past.

It was occurring to me that there might be more to this credit card business than I imagined. This didn’t seem to be the time to ask, however, and a moment later we were in the club . . . and I lost all ability to think of anything else.