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

“Not always,” said Dane, figuring there was nothing better to do than answer Sean’s questions. “They’re matriarchal, generally, but anyone can be a friggin’ witch. It’s the kind of magic.”


“I think I like magic. Feels like pillows.”


“Yeah, well, if you wanted to use it you’d have to be a wizard. Those use books and shit. Witches channel magic, that’s why they got all that nature crap.” Dane groaned as the ground evened out like awaterbed and he felt the pain in his side like every rib was broken. “Fucking witch. I’ll kill him.”


“If he doesn’t kill us first.” Sean paused. “Didn’t you go out with a wizard once?”


“No, asshole. I killed her familiar. And I don’t go out with people.”


“No I don’t. I fuck you. We fuck. That’s different.”


“Right,” said Sean, but it sounded like he was singing the word.


Dane groaned. He wished he had his gun. At this point he’d rather blow his own brains out than feel themturn to mush.


Chapter 60