You already started,” the Bloodletter tells me, “before I put you to sleep. You started laying the groundwork instinctively.” “But how did I do that? How do I build this mythical, mystical wall? And what makes you think I’ve already started?” I ask, more confused than ever. “I knew you’d started the minute you began hearing Hudson’s voice. Because he didn’t talk to you when he was free to take control of you. It’s only after you started to impede that freedom that he had something to say.” “That’s not true!” Hudson throws his hands up. “I’ve been trying to get your attention all along. You just couldn’t listen until Yoda here taught you how to make an illusion real.” “Wait a minute.” I turn to the Bloodletter in horror. “You mean I’ll still be able to hear him, even after I wall him up?” Just the idea turns my stomach. “I thought the whole point was to get rid of him.” “The whole point is to make sure he can’t take you over anymore. The wall will prevent that, at least for a while. But now that he’s figured out how to get your attention…” She shakes her head. “I don’t think we’ll be able to do anything about that.” Jaxon balls his fists at this statement, but he doesn’t say a word. The film adaptation of Crave will be oversee by Universal Pictures’ Senior VP production Jeyun Munford and creative executive Christine Sun. The second installment to the novel titled Crush is also expected to launch next year. Everything feels off—especially me. I’ve returned to Katmere Academy, but I’m haunted by fragments of days I have no recollection of living and struggling to understand who, or what, I really am. really, really bad. But if seeing this Bloodletter person will help get Hudson out of my head, and maybe even give me a glimpse into Jaxon’s childhood, then I’m all in. “How long does it take to get there?” I ask. “And when do we leave?” “A few hours,” Jaxon replies. “And we can leave now if you want.” “Now?” Uncle Finn asks, sounding less than impressed. “Why don’t you at least wait until morning, when it’s light out?” “And give Hudson another chance to try to body snatch me again?” I ask, and I don’t even have to pretend to be traumatized at the thought. “I’d rather not.” Not to mention, I’m too freaked out to sleep tonight—and maybe ever again. The fact that Hudson is inside me is terrifying and gross and weird. Can he read my thoughts, too? Like, is he in my head right now, hearing everything I’m thinking? Or are his talents limited to just taking over my body? Just. Give me a break. How did my life get to this? Five months ago, I was in San Diego, and my biggest decision was where I was going to go to college. Now, I still have to decide that—or at least I think I do (do gargoyles even go to college?)—plus deal with evil alpha werewolves trying to take me down and psychopathic vampires living in my head. If it wasn’t for Jaxon, I’d be pretty positive that I’ve traded down…way, way down.

Crush: the stunning New York Times bestselling sequel to Crave

the way I do when we’re outside. I like being able to see his face, like even more being able to gauge his reaction to my words. “I wanted to show you the view. And I thought you might like a break.” “A break? We’ve only been moving a few minutes.” His grin becomes a laugh. “It’s been more like an hour and a half. And we’ve gone almost three hundred miles.” “Three hundred miles? But that means we’ve been traveling at close to—” “Two hundred miles an hour, yeah. Fading is more than just movement. I don’t know how to describe it; it’s kind of like flying—without a body. Every vampire starts practicing it at a young age, but I was always very, very good at it.” He looks like a little kid, absurdly proud of himself. “That’s…incredible.” No wonder I was having such a hard time holding on to images and thoughts as Jaxon faded. We weren’t so much moving as bending reality. As I turn all this information over in my head, I can’t help thinking about a book I read in seventh grade, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In it, he talks about people driving cars superfast on the regular highways—like 130 miles an hour fast —and the government condoning it, because it keeps people from thinking. They have to concentrate on driving, and not dying, to the exclusion of everything else. It felt a little like that when Jaxon was fading. Like everything else in my life, even the bad stuff, just disappeared, leaving only the most basic survival instincts in its place. I know Bradbury meant his book to be a warning, but fading is so cool that I can’t help wondering how Jaxon feels about it.it.” “Byron’s parents have decided to donate…” He does a little drumroll on the dining table. “A bloodstone! And not just any bloodstone. It’s one of the queen’s favorites, from the royal collection, that she gifted his parents on the eve of his mate’s death.” Everything inside me stills as I remember the Bloodletter telling us that she would take care of getting the bloodstone to us. This must be what she meant. A glance at Jaxon’s face tells me he thinks so, too—and that he isn’t the least bit surprised by this bit of news, either. He obviously had a good idea what the Bloodletter would do. Which also makes his interest in playing Ludares right now —in the middle of everything we have going on—make so much more sense. If the only way to get the bloodstone is to win the tournament, then it looks like hell really has frozen over. I just need to figure out how not to be a total burden—and, oh yeah, how not to be the first death—on the Ludares field in the history of Katmere. There are a total of 126 chapters in Crush (125 from Grace's perspective, 1 from Hudson's perspective), not counting the two bonus chapters at the end of the book.

Review: Crush by Tracy Wolff | The Nerd Daily Review: Crush by Tracy Wolff | The Nerd Daily

questions/comments to start with, I say the first thing that pops into my head. “You changed your hair.” “What? Oh yeah.” She grins at me as she runs a hand through her short pink pixie cut. “I did it a few weeks ago when I was missing you. Kind of an homage, you know?” Of course it’s an homage, because she still thinks hot pink is my favorite color… “It looks fabulous,” I tell her. Because it does. And because she’s pretty much the greatest cousin and friend a girl could ever wish for. “So what class do you have next?” she asks, tugging me across the foyer toward the staircase. “Because I think you should blow it off and come hang in the room with me.” “Don’t you have a class now, too?” “Yes, but it’s just a review for the midterm on Friday.” She waves a hand in the air. “I can skip it to hang with my favorite cousin.” “Yeah, but your favorite cousin has art right now, and I don’t think I should skip it. I need to find out if there’s something I can do to make up for everything I missed.” I eye her ruefully. “I am not prepared to repeat my senior year.” “If you ask me, you shouldn’t have to make up anything. I mean, hello. Saving the world should get you straight A’s, like, forever.” I laugh, because it’s impossible not to when Macy is on a roll. And she is very definitely on a roll right now. “I wouldn’t exactly call it saving the world.” “You got rid of Hudson, didn’t you? It’s close enough.” My stomach tightens. That’s the thing. I don’t know if I got about how I’m supposed to spend the next hour and a half with the boy who, not very long ago, wanted me dead.Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally―as the bait.” SAG-AFTRA talent Heather Costa has been a narrator and voice-over actor for over fifteen years. She is passionate about bringing stories to life. And not only am I fighting for my life, but now everyone else’s is at stake—unless we can defeat an unspeakable evil. All I know is that saving the people I love is going to require sacrifice. What are you going to do?” “Besides cry and eat a boatload of Cherry Garcia ice cream?” I offer flippantly. “I’m thinking two boatloads, but yeah. Besides that?” I tell her about the spell and the five things we have to get to turn Hudson human again. “So that’s why Hudson made you take the athame?” she asks, astonished. “He wants out, too?” “That’s what he says. Although he was only going for the four items. He has no interest in being turned human.” She looks alarmed. “We can’t let him out if he still has his powers. You know that, right?” “Believe me, I know. I’m just not sure how long I can handle having him in my head.” “I can only imagine.” She moves to my bed and sits down next to me so she can wrap an arm around my shoulders. “But don’t worry. We’ll get started tomorrow on figuring out how to get the last three things. And we should probably rope Flint in. I bet he’ll have some ideas about how to get the dragon bone.” “I don’t— You don’t—” I break off, not sure how to say all the things I’m feeling right now. “I don’t what?” she asks. “You don’t have to do this with me. I mean, it sounds like at least two of the tasks are going to be really dangerous, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.” “Are you kidding me right now?” Macy demands, and she looks outraged in a way I’ve never seen from her before. “You Flint relaxes a little at my words, and so does Jaxon, but they both keep wary eyes on me. As does Macy, who has been uncharacteristically quiet since the whole magic-channeling thing happened. And while I appreciate the fact that all three of them are only looking out for me in their own ways, I also have to admit that the overprotectiveness is going to exhaust my patience sooner rather than later. Macy must sense it, because out of the blue, she suddenly suggests, “Hey, why don’t you guys go flying?” “Flying?” I ask, because just the thought of it makes me nervous. “Yes, flying. It’s another one of those powers gargoyles have,” she tells me. “And the one power we knew about before we even started researching. So why don’t you take Flint up on his offer to teach you and just go for it?” “I don’t know, Macy,” Jaxon says out of nowhere. “Grace has already had to deal with a lot today and—” Just that easily, I make my decision. Maybe it’s contrary— okay, it’s probably contrary—but Jaxon doesn’t get to decide what I do or when I do it. The guy is a bulldozer, especially with the people he feels responsible for. If I give him an inch, he’ll take seven miles…and then start inquiring about mineral and air rights. “I’d love to go flying, Flint!” I say with an enthusiasm that is at least partially fake. “But I think we should come up with a plan before we do anything else.” “I think that’s a good idea,” Macy agrees. “I mean, how many days do we have left before Hudson gives up on wandering to other parts of your brain and decides to just go