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

“I don’t care how it started,” he said. “I want to finish things. Properly. Please, Sean.”


Sean stared at him for what seemed like hours. Dane wanted desperately to be let inside, to be welcomed into someplace like this. If Sean was going to quit, going to get his mind wiped anyway, Dane wanted to experience something normal for once. A night over. He so rarely spent the night. By the time Sean spokehe was practically holding his breath.


“You’re lucky you’re hot,” he said, and walked away from the open door. Dane dashed to the car, grabbed his overnight bag, and tore back to the house before Sean could change his mind.


Sean had expected Dane to feel more comfortable in his home but he looked downright nervous when he walked into the kitchen after locking the door and pulling off his shoes. Sean poured him a shot—poured himself one, too—and Dane took it immediately. Then they stood there, Sean in his hoodie,Dane in his plain black shirt.


Chapter 24