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

“Didn’t want to think she was right about you stabbing me in the back,” said Sean at last. “But you proved that fast. I’ll just go home and patiently await my mind-wipe, then.” He retreated to the stairs, muttered something profane Dane didn’t catch, and disappeared up into Crypt Coffee.


Dane stared at the stairs for a long time. He hated that he knew he was going to miss Sean, that he was going to have a hell of a time serving him coffee after this.


“Damn,” said Ned, interrupting his private misery. “I liked him.”


“Yeah, well, maybe I’ll ask him out sometime.”


“Not likely,” said Ned. He drifted over to the pine ashes and bent to poke them with a finger. “Even if you did, I wouldn’t be able to talk to him again. Which is a shame, as I did like him. You two would have done all right as partners.”


Chapter 33