Fox Hunt: A Moon Series short story

By Jeanette Battista

The only thing on Finn’s mind is spending some quality time with Laila in her hometown of New Orleans. But when her sensei, Master Toshi, goes missing, all thoughts of a relaxing vacation are out the window. Laila is determined to track down her teacher and make the person who took him pay dearly. With Finn’s help, she hunts the French Quarter in search of Toshi, hoping she can find him before it’

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jeanette Battista
• Release date: Aug 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301582983

Jeanette Battista

Jeanette Battista is the award winning and Amazon best-selling young adult author of The Moon Series, These Violent Delights, and the Books of Aerie series. She received her MA in English literature with a concentration in medieval studies. She’d been a technical writer, a software release project manager, and a freelance educational writer. She’s taught college freshmen how to write and occasionally still talks writing with high school and middle school students.Her household includes several humans and three cats, one of whom is missing an eye. He is unfortunately not named Odin, a choice that will haunt her forever. When she’s not writing, she’s having the crap beaten out of her in a ring during Muay Thai class, reading anything she can get her grubby hands on, and playing Unstable Unicorns. She lives and works in North Carolina.

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Fox Hunt

A Moon Series short story

Jeanette Battista

Copyright 2013 Jeanette Battista

All rights reserved

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Discover other titles by Jeanette Battista at Smashwords.com:

Leopard Moon (Volume 1 of the Moon series)

Jackal Moon (Volume 2 of the Moon series)

Hyena Moon (Volume 3 of the Moon series)

Hunter Moon (Volume 4 of the Moon series)

Long Black Veil

Table of Contents

Fox Hunt

About the Author

The flight to New Orleans was uneventful, something Finn was grateful for as he unfolded his squished body from the coach seat that was clearly not meant to hold a young man built like the very mountains he hailed from. He was glad to stretch his legs as he walked out of the terminal with his bag slung over his shoulder. He looked around the meet-n-greet area, searching for the short blonde who’d managed to entrance and intrigue him more than the stable of girls he’d dated in North Carolina.

Laila was a formidable young woman. She was a werejackal and a Keeper of Divine Order--a sort of sacred assassin bound to the service of Anubis. And she was only a senior in high school. Finn didn’t want to think about how deadly she’d be when she graduated from college. She’d probably be the equivalent of a walking tactical nuke.

She wasn’t there. He felt his face fall, an uncomfortable pain in his stomach. He’d thought she’d be here. He reached in his back pocket to check his phone, in case she’d sent him a text to say she’d gotten delayed, but a lithe body slid against his, stopping his movement.

Howdy, good-looking, Laila’s voice sounded behind him. Her hand gripped his wrist, then slid down to wrap around his fingers.

I’m sorry, ma’am, he replied, putting a deep twang in his voice, but this boy is spoken for.

What’s her name? Give me five minutes and she won’t be up to speaking. She sidled around him until she stood at his right.

He scooped her up, picking her up in one arm and holding her close. I’ve missed your bloodthirsty way of dealing with complications.

"I’ve missed you," Laila replied, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Don’t sound so surprised. He leaned in for a kiss. It didn’t last long enough for him, but he didn’t protest when she pulled away. Laila wasn’t big on public displays of affection. Violence, sure, but kissing was something she didn’t like engaging in where others could watch.

He let her go, but kept hold of her hand. She smiled up at him, brown eyes alight. The light scar that ran over her left brow and down her cheek crinkled in that way he liked so much. Let’s get you out of here so I can have my way with you, Laila said, giving his arm a tug. "After you meet my parents."

Finn blanched. He’d never met any girl’s parents before. Well, at least not on purpose. The place he hailed from was small, so if he dated local girls, there was always the risk of running into her folks sooner or later. Which is why, once he’d gotten to college, he chose to date non-locals. It was easier to run his usual hit and run that way. The idea of meeting the parents of a girl he actually liked was terrifying.

That was a complete boner killer, he remarked under his breath.

Laila huffed out a laugh, then gave him her most wicked grin. Oh, I think I’ve got a fix for that. She rubbed up