In celebration of the release of THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT, we are sharing story excerpts from the collection.

Today’s preview comes from “To Be a Man.”

It might have beenthe dog, or it might have been the woman. He wasn’t sure.

Whenhe had prowled into the garden from the enclosed parkland beyond, thelittle pug dog had been yapping in a skull-rattling fashion. His
first instinct was to shut it up. He’d also wanted to cleanse his
palate of those tickling feathers from the peahen he’d had so much
fun chasing down in the parkland. So he’d bounded after the dog,
snapped it up, and shaken it. The dog was small and fatty and
sour-smelling, but at least it didn’t have feathers.

Then
a woman’s voice tensely said, “Blessed Venus, step back out of
sight, Felicia. A slow step. Don’t startle it. Just back away and
it will eat that hells-cursed pug and not you.”

“But
do you see what it is, Ami?”

“Yes,
I see what it is. It is a very large and very hungry saber-toothed
cat.”

He
raised his head just as the dog weakly wriggled, its blood dribbling
down his dagger-like incisors.

“It’s
so beautiful.”

For more on THE VERY BEST OF KATE ELLIOTT, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Julie Dillon.

Design by Elizabeth Story.