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

“Uh, yes, I teach basic plant biology. Is there some problem with one of my students?”


“No, professor,” said the officer. Sean heard him sniffling loudly in the cold. “I have a few questions for you about the plants, if you don’t mind. We got our guys to do some research, thought we’d confirm with you.”


“Can it wait? I’ve got a class right now and…”


Sean glanced around the statue as she trailed off and recognized professor Sandra Miles, looking deeplyconcerned. The cop was scratching something onto a notepad.


“Seeds and pits,” he said. “What can you tell me about them?”


“Are they really poison?” asked the cop, sounding impatient despite the fact he wasn’t late for his own class. Sean knew the pain of being late to a room full of students and did not envy Sandra.


“Are you talking about cyanide?” she asked. “It’s found in things like apricot pits, cherry stones,apple seeds…but only in very small quantities.”


Chapter 34