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

This time one of the roots made contact with the ghost. A sound Dane had to classify as a shriek but was gut-wrenching to hear seemed to pour out of Ned’s entire body, and he flickered briefly. Dane struggled harder against the roots, now encircling his chest, as Ned made another grab for the knife and floated off with it. He collapsed halfway to Sean, who ran up to him.


“I need rest,” said Ned, and faded out, leaving the knife behind.


“If you’re going to help, do it now,” said Dane, and Sean got to his feet, approached with the knife in one hand, gun in the other. Dane expected Sean to try to free him, but instead he walked away from where the roots were now constricting Dane’s guts. “Oh, fuck you. I swear I will come back to haunt you every fucking day of your life—”


Chapter 74