Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons #3)(52)

There was no sign of those refined manners, either, as she devoured three pieces of pizza, downing them all amid gulps from her water. Luke could barely keep up.

Jeopardy! moved on to Wheel of Fortune, and the competition began anew.

By the time they’d finished, tied again, she was smiling at him. A real, quiet smile. The smile that he doubted the press and the who’s-who ever saw. It made her younger—prettier.

Holly rose to her feet, both of them having moved to the L-shaped couch before the fireplace and TV thirty minutes ago. “Thanks for dinner,” she said, stretching her arms.

“I’m shocked I managed to get any slices for myself.”

Holly let out a low laugh. “We’ll order two pies the next time.”

Next time. The words hung like an invitation.

And as Luke escorted her to the front door, he found himself saying, “Next time, then.”

He closed the door, listening for the sounds of Holly going into her own apartment and locking the door behind her.

A few hours later, as he slipped into his suit and into the awaiting night, Luke was still smiling. Just a bit.





“Hurry,” Ivy urged from halfway down the bank’s basement hall, frowning as Harley set the charges along the vault door.

“I’m going, I’m going,” Harley muttered. “One wrong move, babycakes, and we’re toast.”

Ivy tapped her booted foot on the marble floor. “I know how explosives work.”

“Then why don’t you do this?”

“My vines would at least crack through that concrete faster than you’re moving right now.”

Selina stood near the steps that led upstairs, ignoring their playful bickering as she monitored the sounds of the darkened bank a level above. The alarms had been cut, avoiding triggering the heavy metal door at the top of the stairs. Ivy had downed the night guard with her flowers, and now…nothing.

Selina lifted a camera in her hands as Harley strode back over to where Ivy waited, then set it on a tripod she’d carefully positioned. “Ready?” Selina asked the two of them.

Harley only slung an arm around Ivy’s shoulders, both of them grinning like fiends for the camera. Selina positioned herself a few inches away and crossed her arms as she said, “Now.” Light flashed before and behind, the camera snapping away as the vault exploded open.

Well, a small explosion. Something akin to Selina’s own electromagnetic pulse machine—a secret formula, Harley had declared when Selina asked about it. And then started to tease about cats and curiosity, and Selina had blocked her out entirely.

Small doses with Harley. She could deal with her, enjoy her, in small doses.

“You really think the paper will want this photo?” Ivy asked as the smoke cleared, waving away the gray cloud with a gloved hand.

Selina scooped up her duffel, striding into the lingering smoke.

“Who wouldn’t want it?” Harley said.

Selina scanned the dim vault, night vision kicking in. No word had reached the press about Shrike. She couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing.

She wondered how soon Nyssa and Talia would hear about it. Start to ponder.

Send someone else to test her.

“The papers,” Selina declared, striding to a safe-deposit box, easily picking the rudimentary lock, and dumping the jewels right into her bag, “will eat this up. And even better, the fancy folk of Gotham will think we’ve moved on from their parties to banks, and they’ll start up the galas again.”

Harley frowned, waving away the smoke. “I could use another tiara.”

Selina unlocked another box and snickered. “What about this?”

A glittering emerald necklace draped from her hand.

Harley’s eyes went wide as saucers.

Selina chucked it to her. “For getting the vault open.”

Harley caught the necklace. “My mom would love this,” she breathed.

It was the first she’d mentioned of her mom. And even though questions might lead them down a rocky road, Selina couldn’t resist asking, “You two close?”

Harley pocketed the necklace. “She’s my favorite person in the world.” A wink toward Ivy. “Aside from you, Vee.” Harley jerked her chin toward Selina, pigtails swaying. “You close with your mom?”

No. Never. Not once. Selina shrugged. “She’s not worth mentioning.”

It was the truth. Harley’s eyes softened, the expression unbearable.

Sparing Selina, Ivy cut in, hauling wads of cash into her duffel, “So we’ll be hitting up more parties after this?”

Selina wished her helmet weren’t on. If only so she could give Ivy a grateful look. But she only said, “Don’t sound too disappointed.” Selina moved from box to box, leaving the papers and random junk, scanning for any hint of jewelry. “Poor Batwing won’t know where to hunt us.”

Ivy hummed. “What do we do about him? No way we downed him for good.”

Selina kept her voice mild. “We can deal with him when the time calls for it.”

“We should use his insides to hang him from a lamppost,” Harley added, going back to picking the locks and hauling valuables into her bag. Selina didn’t think she was exaggerating.

“We should use him to find out who Batman is,” Ivy mused, zipping up her own bag. “They work together. He might tell us.”