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

“Her car was remarkably clean, so this won’t take long,” said Ned. “No sea of fast-food wrappers to wade through.”


Dane bristled at the slight but shut up.


“Phone, of course.” Ned scrunched up his face. “Bag of workout gear. Oh, and a smoothie.” He paused, tilted his head like something had just occurred to him. “You know, that was magical, too. I didn’t think about it at the time—the entire car was so overwhelmingly tainted with it, and she was very confused. Wasn’t the sort who was expecting to die any time before her mid-nineties, what with her tailored lifestyle. Being alive is funny that way, isn’t it? You think you have so much control.”


“Bet she would’ve had a drink now and then if she knew her days were numbered,” said Dane.


“Wait.” Sean pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore the irreverence. “Back up. A magic smoothie? What was in it?”


“Well, it was green,” said Ned, and shrugged. “With flecks.”


Chapter 40