Dane's a Decrypter down on his luck -- after accidentally dispatching the wrong creature, he's sent to a small town where the cryptids he hunts are sparse. Crypt Coffee becomes his business front, but instead of a thrilling new mission on the side, he's stuck sending ghosts back to where they came from. Dane can annoy customers, at least, and tries to scare off Professor Sean Sanderson when he starts poking around too much.<br><br>But Sean isn’t about to stay away. Not when he hears about the murder of a former student, and definitely not if young, exciting Dane has information about it. But the more he allows himself to get dragged into this supernatural world of monsters and ghosts, the more the danger escalates. And if Sean and Dane aren’t careful, tracking down a murderer who can use magic might just get them killed.

Bad Seed

“The hell is this?” asked Dane. “Bether ball?”


“Beth-herbal,” said Sean, pronouncing it so Dane could hear where the syllables should break. “Bethany’s home-based business.”


“So, look where she lived,” said Sean, pointing.


“Out by Blue Bell Creek. Shit. I think there’s a…” Dane trailed off, switched to a whisper, “magic source somewhere around there. Haven’t mapped them all yet, and the damned things are moving.”


“Great, that’s what I would’ve guessed,” said Sean, snapping the laptop shut. “I still have a few hours free today, let’s get going.” By the time he’d packed up his laptop and grabbed his coffee and muffin, he realized Dane was giving him a look of barely-concealed suspicion.


“Taking you on a field trip,” said Sean. He didn’t know why he was being so bold, but he figured sinceDane was already out of his reach, he didn’t have anything to lose. And he was legitimately curious about magic shit.


Chapter 12