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

“Yes, you did. And if the Decrypter had been content enough to do his job and leave us alone after Adonia explained her paperwork, you wouldn’t be here. You could have let this all drop. You wouldn’t have to die here.”


Sean swallowed and forced his face calm.


“Is that what you’re going to do? Kill us?”


Percival grinned, a terrible, toothy grin that made Sean’s blood run cold.


“Haven’t decided yet. Killing’s not as satisfying as I expected. Maybe I’ll just watch you deteriorate. I’ve never witnessed what too much magic can do to the mind—they say very strange things. You could teach me a lot.” He paused. “I’ll be back shortly. Don’t have too much fun while I’m gone.”


He retreated to the far end of the island where Sean couldn’t see whether he had a boat or not, not thatit mattered. When he turned back, Dane was staring at him, and he hated the look in his eyes. Sean lookedaway, trying to push back the fear that had taken over him.


Chapter 59