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

“Not on your best day.” The words didn’t matter. Everything depended on the edge of her voice and the thrust of her glare through shadow to the place where his eyes had to be. “Not with all your slime friends helping you.” Selina forgot where they were, what she held, and even who she was. She forgot that the costume was stuffed under the bed. Her rage spread across her face. Like a giant spark it leapt between her eyes and his.

She had him.

“You one crazy bitch,” the punk murmured, retreating.

Selina ached to see his eyes, to hear his voice when his mouth was full of broken teeth and blood. Not this time. The kitten still squirmed. She’d have to be content with breaking his spirit for a few hours, and the hope that his peers by the lamppost would sense his injury and finish the job for her.

“Beat it, slime, while you still can.”

He tugged on the bill of his cap. Maybe he thought he’d regain the advantage if he met the crazy lady’s eyes. If he had, he was wrong. Selina was waiting for him. She showed real teeth through a real smile and started toward him, then walked on by. As she had hoped, his erstwhile companions hurled insults until she was out of earshot.

Another hundred yards and she began to relax.

Only a man can make a woman forget everything but fear.

The thought spread through her mind along with Rose’s face. The punk’s eyes were astonished. Like the druggers, he couldn’t quite believe that a woman—a bitch—had overwhelmed him. But there was no astonishment, surprise, or disbelief in the memory of Rose’s face, only fear, then a victim’s acceptance of inevitable fate.