Stopping a murder that happened forty years earlier may be the only way to heal a tortured mind ...<br><br>Six months after Jesse Madding is brutally tortured by Marcus Brooker, he is still experiencing flashbacks, panic attacks, and jumping at his own shadow. His lovers, Gideon Keel and Emma Coolidge, would do anything to help him, but Jesse refuses to be hospitalized for treatment, or even visit a therapist. Desperate for a change, Gideon and Emma suggest a radical solution.<br><br> Jesse wants to fix his life. More than anything, he wants to be normal again. He doesn't want to live in fear. He doesn't want to be ashamed of his scarred and mutilated body. He doesn't want to shy away from Gideon's touch. Certain that the holding pattern will kill him, he agrees to Gideon and Emma's proposed solution: travel to an alternative dimension and save Marcus Brooker from witnessing Mary's grisly murder ... in order to save Brooker's soul.

Chaos and Communion

“I know. But I don’t know what to do. I don’t. How am I supposed to sleep when I have nothing but nightmares? And sometimes…the flashbacks aren’t even the worst part. Sometimes…I keep losing time. It’s just gone. Minutes or hours. And I’m trying…”


The fingers on his chin loosened, some of the flint in Gideon’s eyes softening at the same time. “I know you’re trying. But maybe it’s time to admit you need more than I can give you.”


“I mean…” Letting him go, Gideon stood and edged around Jesse, pacing the length of the bed behind him. “I know we tried therapy when we got back from New York, and I know the meds you got weren’t good. But there are others out there, others you haven’t tried. Something has to work.”


Chapter 5