The giant cat purred as it licked Spike's blood from its paw with an enormous pink tongue.

Spike backed up and away from the beast until his back hit the bar. The barkeep was still working on the glass - hollow-eyed and drooling - as the tiger slowly padded closer. He watched for any telltale sign of attack, the blink of an eye, the twitch of a claw.

The muscles in its flanks suddenly tensed and Spike knew that the great cat would be upon him in an instant. As it leapt, Spike spun around grabbed the man by the shirtfront and hauled him into the path of the tiger. The monstrous beast dragged the man down to the floor and begun ripping him apart before realizing it was not his intended prey. Mailik, his white muzzle stained with the blood of the bartender, looked up as Spike came at him with a broken bottle.

"It's not much," he said thrusting the jagged edge into the throat of the tiger with all his vampiric strength, "but it should do the trick."

The demon-cat shrieked with pain and leaped back as blood squirted from the wound and spattered the tavern floor.

"There's a pretty kitty," Spike hissed, bloody bottle still in hand.

The bleeding from the tiger's throat slowed to a trickle as it positioned itself low to the ground, preparing to pounce again. Their eyes locked, each predator searching for a weakness in the other. Spike thought he had won when the tiger's eyes suddenly shifted away.