Now she’s looking at me like I actually did spit pea soup. “Um, I hate to break it to you, Grace, but things like this don’t happen here—at least not when you aren’t around.” I narrow my eyes at her. “Fantastic. That makes me feel so much better, thanks.” She lifts her hand in a “what do you want me to say?” gesture. Before I can answer her, my phone dings with a long series of text messages. We both turn to stare at it as one. “You should get that,” Macy whispers after a second. “I know.” Yet I make no move toward my desk, where it’s currently charging. “Do you want me to get it for you?” she asks when it dings three more times. “I don’t know.” Macy sighs, but she doesn’t argue with me. Probably because she is at least as afraid as I am to find out who’s texting me. And why. But we can’t hide forever, and when a third string of messages comes in, I bite the bullet and say, “Fine, get it, please. I don’t want to…” This time I’m the one who holds my hands up—my bloody hands. I want to wash off, am dying to wash off, but every police procedural I’ve ever seen is running through my head right now. If I do wash up, is that destroying evidence? Will it make me look more guilty? I mean, it sounds awful, but I am currently covered in someone else’s blood and have no idea how it happened. Call

The Crave Series | Tracy Wolff

Maybe we can do it this weekend?” “Yeah, sure. Just let me know what works for you.” “Great, thanks. And I’m sure I’ll want to take you up on the flying lessons.” I mean, I still can’t believe that I can fly. Me. Under my own power. Because I’m a gargoyle, I mean. When the whole “I have wings” thing came up earlier, the implication of being able to fly was there. But to think about it, to imagine Flint giving me lessons on how not to die while doing it… It’s more than a little overwhelming. Instead, I focus on something else. Giving the idea time to settle can’t be a bad thing. “But speaking of flying, I actually had a different question,” I say to Flint. He turns amused eyes my way. “Yes?” “You mentioned pixies. How many other species are out there? Are there a lot of other creatures that aren’t at Katmere, ones that I don’t even know exist?” “Definitely.” He grins. “More than you could ever imagine.” “Oh.” I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with that. My surprise must show, because Flint lifts a brow at me. “Was that not the answer you were looking for?” “I don’t know—I just… What other kinds of creatures are there? And why aren’t they at Katmere?” “Because Katmere’s teachers specialize in dragons, werewolves, vampires, and witches,” Flint tells me. “There are other schools out there that specialize in other magical creatures.” wrong with me, considering when I got to Katmere Academy, all I wanted was to be on my own, and now I feel like I’m about to jump out of my skin. Finally, I decide to take a shower so I can go to bed, but I’m halfway to the bathroom, pajamas in my hand, when I realize I can’t do that. Last night when I showered, Hudson was asleep. Tonight, he isn’t. He’s being unnaturally quiet and hasn’t said a word to me since Jaxon’s outburst in the library, but he’s sprawled out on Macy’s bed reading—I stretch a little bit to get a look at the front of his book—Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, and I wonder idly if he relates to Rodion, who ends up killing people for his own selfish needs. I hesitate. I want to wash my hair, but there’s no way I’m going to strip naked and take a shower with him watching me, whether he seems like he’s reading or not. How could he not see me naked if I can see myself naked? I mean, he’s in my head. “I wouldn’t do that.” I nearly jump when Hudson finally speaks to me out of the blue. He’s still on Macy’s bed, with his ankles crossed and his arms folded beneath his head, but now his book is lying across his chest. There are a million other questions I want to ask him— namely what made him so upset that he shut down to begin with—but I settle for asking about his immediate statement first. “What do you mean?” “I wouldn’t watch you take a shower or get undressed. You don’t have to worry about that.” “Yeah, but how could you not watch? You’re literally in A note about CHARM: The missing four months of time between Crave and Crush, can be enjoyed anytime after reading Crave. 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.really work!” Flint is full-on laughing his ass off now, but I don’t care. I’m so excited that my wings work that I keep hopping around and making them flap as hard as I can. Even Hudson is laughing now, but it’s with me, not at me. “You look good flapping your wings like that.” “I do, don’t I?” I flap them again, just because I can. “I have wings, Hudson! And they work!” “Hell yeah, they do.” He shakes his head with a big smile. I turn to Flint. “Okay, now what do I do?” “You just flap super hard until you get off the ground.” “Really?” I ask, my eyes going wide as I start to try that. He bursts out laughing, so hard that for a moment he can’t even talk. I’m not sure what the joke is until he finally recovers enough to put a hand on my shoulder. “No, stop,” he says. “I was joking, Grace.” “Oh.” I blush a little, but I’m having too much fun to be embarrassed for long. Plus, I want to fly! “So tell me what to do. For real this time!” “Okay. What you want to do is think about flying. Not about falling, not about being able to move your wings, not about getting off the ground. Just think about flying. About catching the wind.” He looks around, then seems to get an idea, because he reaches out and grabs my hand. “Let’s go to the bleachers.” “Are you kidding me? I’m not jumping off the bleachers the first time I try to fly! No effing way.” Obviously.” I don’t mean to sound snarky; I really don’t. I know he just wants to help. But what am I supposed to do here? I can’t just go around assaulting people. The whole Idon’t-remember thing is going to get old fast. God knows it’s already old for me. Macy steps between us. “So what do we do, Dad? How do we stop this from happening again?” I wrap my arms around my waist and hold on tight. “You’re not going to call the police, are you? I didn’t mean to hurt him. Honestly, I still can’t figure out how I did hurt him. He’s—” “No one’s calling the police, Grace,” Jaxon tells me firmly. “That’s not how we handle things here. And even if we did, you can’t be held responsible for something you did when you weren’t aware. Right, Foster?” “Of course. I mean, we’re going to have to watch you, make sure this doesn’t happen again. You can’t go around assaulting other students.” “Even if they deserve it,” Macy interjects. “I know it’s wrong, but after everything Cole did to you last semester, I’m having a hard time feeling sympathy for the guy.” Jaxon snorts. “I should have killed him when I had the shot. Then this never would have happened.” “No, you shouldn’t have,” I scold him. “That’s a horrible thing to say.” “Horrible,” Macy agrees, “but also a little bit true.” I shoot her a what-the-hell look, but she just kind of shrugs, as if to say, What did you expect? Deciding the best way to circumvent Uncle Finn’s objections is to simply act like this is a done deal, I turn to Jaxon. “Do we need to call first and let her know we’re coming? I mean, if she has a phone in her”—I can’t believe I’m saying this—“ice cave?” “She doesn’t need a phone. And if she doesn’t already know we’re coming, she’ll figure it out long before we get there.” Because that’s not creepy at all. “Awesome.” I smile at him. “I’ll go get changed and meet you at the front entrance in fifteen minutes?” Jaxon nods. “Make sure to layer up. We’ll be out in the cold for a while.” By “a while,” I assume he means the whole time, considering the Bloodletter lives in an ice cave. Which is another weird-as-hell thing that I want to hear more about— including whether or not Jaxon grew up in the ice cave we are going to visit or if he grew up somewhere else and moved there after. I mean, because nothing says “retirement” like carving out a home for yourself in the middle of a frozen Alaskan cave. “Give her at least thirty minutes, Jaxon,” my uncle says with the air of a man who knows when he’s been beaten. “I’d rather get started as soon as possible,” I object. “And I’d rather you had something to eat before you go.” He gives me a hard look that lets me know in no uncertain terms that this is one thing he is not budging on. “It’s not like you can just drop into a restaurant out there in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, and the Bloodletter definitely isn’t move forward. “Absolutely,” he answers with a grin that he’s trying really hard to hide. I know it’s because I look ridiculous—I keep catching myself stroking my arms out in front of me like doing the breaststroke in midair is actually going to get me somewhere or something. The absurdity is made worse by the fact that the faster I get my wings to go, the more likely I am to end up bobbing up and down. Which means if I don’t get this whole thing figured out soon, I’m going to find myself swimming through the air, all while looking like I’m practicing bizarrely timed evasive maneuvers anytime I want to fly. Probably not the way I want to go, considering even my mate can’t keep a straight face. I can only imagine what Flint and Macy and the others are thinking down below. “I think we should quit,” I tell Jaxon after a few more minutes of attempting to stay semi-vertical and also fly. “I’m never going to get this.” “That’s not true. You’re already so much better than you were.” “Considering my worst was plummeting off a railing, I feel like you’re sugarcoating things.” He grins at me, and though he’s several feet away, I swear I feel him caress my face. “One more time,” he says. “For me. I’ve got an idea.” “What’s your idea?” “I’ll tell you after. Just go ahead and try.”

Crush by Tracy Wolff | Waterstones

sighs and says, “Don’t thank me, Grace.” “Why not?” I roll over so I can get a better look at his face as he leans up against the side of my bed. “Because,” he tells me, indigo eyes burning hotly with a myriad of emotions I can’t begin to decipher, “if you do, I’m going to do something that you’ll regret.” I’m…” I hold up my hands and swivel them around in a demonstration that I’m human and not stone. “Seriously?” She rolls her eyes. “Do you think I didn’t take at least a dozen pics of you? My badass gargoyle cousin? Give me a break.” “Hold on. You actually took pictures of me?” “Of course I did. You’re, like, the coolest creature in existence. Why wouldn’t I?” She reaches for her phone. “Want to see?” My stomach flutters a little, butterflies waking up for a reason that has nothing to do with Jaxon or Katmere Academy and everything to do with what might possibly be in that picture. I know I shouldn’t get upset about what I look like when it’s so not important in the grand scheme of things. But I can’t help it. I apparently have horns. “Yeah. Yeah, I really do.” I close my eyes and reach for the phone. As I do, I take a deep breath, hold it for the count of five, and blow it out slowly. Then I take another breath and do the same thing. When I’m finally ready for whatever monstrosity is going to be waiting for me—or as ready as I can be—I open my eyes and stare at my picture. 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 Enough,” I manage to wheeze out between coughs. “Is it enough?” the Bloodletter asks in a voice as cold as the Alaskan wilderness she has made her home. “Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?” No, I don’t. Not even a little bit. But I’m afraid if I tell her that, I’m going to end up buried under a thousand pounds of sand, so I just nod. But I do try to focus, not just on what she’s saying but on the deeper meaning of what she wants me to understand. Her gaze holds mine, her green eyes urging me to think beyond my simple understanding of the world. To recognize that some things have to be believed to be understood instead of the other way around. It’s a leap of faith, one I’m not sure I’m comfortable making after everything that’s already happened. But what other choice do I have? I can believe or I can get swept away —not just by the sand she is continuing to blow my way but by Hudson’s dark and overwhelming will. I swallow, knowing there really is no other option for me. And so I close my eyes, lower my defenses just a little, and let her words swirl in my mind, settle in my bones, become my reality. The moment I do, the illusion of this world fades into something that feels even more right. Something that feels like coming home. Suddenly, there’s another voice in my head, and it’s not the one I’m used to, the one that warns me of bad things to come. No, this voice is low and sardonic. It’s also familiar—really familiar.Always wanted to be a student at the boarding school with bite? The Katmere Academy: An Insider’s Guide will transport you. Explore everything Katmere has to offer and get lost within its walls with exclusive bonus content available for the very first time. Katmere Insiders will be able to dig deeper with full character bios—from Grace, the Vega brothers, Macy, and Flint to fan favorites like Eden, Remy, and even Byron. Get to know the staff, learn the history of some of the most unique and exciting traditions at Katmere, and discover which Court you would belong to. And, of course, enjoy numerous deleted scenes and outrageous outtakes from your favorite characters’ POVs, giving readers insights into Crave series lore not found anywhere else. Bonus features include a never-before-seen Q&A with Tracy Wolff, where she reveals insider information about the series fans won’t want to miss, as well as a brand-new novella from Hudson’s POV! making their way to class. As we start to walk, I lean away again, grab hold of Jaxon’s hand, and thread our fingers together. I may not be able to kiss him right now, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love him. And it doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with him any way that I can. Jaxon doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t object, either. And when I look up at him, I realize that the small smile he’s got on his face has an extremely goofy tint to it. Because of me. I’m the girl who turns badass vampire prince Jaxon Vega goofy. Not going to lie, it feels good. “So where am I walking you?” Jaxon asks as we finally reach the main hallway. “I don’t know. They switched my science class. I went from basic Chem to the Physics of Flight, but I don’t know why.” “Really? You don’t know why?” Jaxon asks, brow raised, a teasing glint in his eyes. “No.” I shrug. “Do you?” “I mean, I can’t say for sure, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the big, beautiful wings your alter ego carries around.” “My alter— Oooooh.” That has my eyes going wide. “You mean the Physics of Flight is about actually being able to fly?” “Yeah.” He looks at me incredulously. “What did you think it was about?” 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.