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

“You couldn’t just get him a new one?”


“No, I couldn’t get him a fucking new one,” said Dane, not looking at Sean.


“Fuck off. Weren’t you going home?”


Sean sighed, wanted to grab Dane’s shoulder, turn him around, and kiss him goodnight, but Sean had a feeling that would be unwelcome.


“Yeah,” he said instead, and got a few feet away before turning back. “Hey, I’ll need your number.”


“Nice try. Just call Crypt Coffee.”


“You want me leaving contact info for Bethany’s friends and family with one of your baristas? Just give me your number, Dane.”


Dane pulled his phone out of his pocket and tossed it over. Sean nearly missed the catch, but it only took a few moments to enter his number in Dane’s phone and put Dane’s into his own. He walked the phoneback.


“Don’t say it,” said Dane, snatching his phone back and glaring. “You might be too old for casual sex, professor, but I’m not.”


Chapter 17