Asprin, Robert Lynn – Catwoman – Tiger Hunt (With Lynn Abbey)

“So what if I’m a hundred times bigger than you, right? You’re a regular warrior—” Her thoughts nose-dived inward. Selina forgot the kitten attacking her fingers. “A regular warrior. A Wilderness Warrior.”

The tension and anguish evaporated. Selina had the solution. She’d had it from the beginning without recognizing it. The militant defenders of predators, the ones who had taught her how to recognize the problem, would surely have the wherewithal to solve it. The Wilderness Warriors would deal with Eddie Lobb’s collection while Catwoman dealt with Eddie himself. Possibilities, probabilities, and—she hoped—inevitabilities clamored for her attention.

“Later.”

Now that she had an answer, Selina could feel the abuse she’d heaped on her body, and smell the rank costume. She kept it on while she stood in the shower, scrubbing it, then herself, in the steamy water. She quenched her thirst in a final cold rinse. After stamping on the catsuit and wringing it out with her hands, Selina threw it over the shower head and, wrapped in a towel, left the bathroom.

The sun was up. The room was painfully bright and the cats were demanding breakfast. Selina couldn’t remember the taste of her greasy-spoon steak, but the effort of opening a can of tuna fish seemed too much to contemplate. She filled a bowl with dry cat food and put it on the floor for the cats to fight over, then dug a handful out for herself. The kibble crunched like pretzels and tasted much better than she expected. After chomping through a second handful, she left the bag propped against the bed.