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

“So…Michelle stopped in last night,” Emma said with a smile. “She was sorry she missed you.”


Jesse dropped his toast on his plate. “Why would Michelle come here? Michelle never comes here.”


“She wanted to know about the hospital.” This came from Gideon. “I told her you didn’t want to go.”


Emma reached out a hand to caress Jesse’s arm. “And that’s okay that you don’t want to. We know it’s hard to think about. That’s why we’ve been working so hard, trying to come up with something that’ll help.”


Jesse looked down, sorry he couldn’t just tell them that he would go. But the thought of it still filled his veins with ice water. “I said I would think about it. I wish I knew something else that would help.”


Chapter 10