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

Gideon stood off to the side, watching the preparations with a thoughtful mien. Jesse had expected there to be tension between Michelle and Gideon, and he supposed there was, but they were both on their best behavior. It was stunning, and more than a little humbling, to think of the lengths both of them were willing to go to for him.


“Everything is ready,” Michelle announced. “Remember, from the moment you cross to the other dimension, you have only five days. I’m sending you back four days before Mary’s church is attacked. That should give you enough time to track down the vampires.”


“No worries there,” Gideon said. “I already know where we’re going to find them.”


Emma frowned as she glanced over at him. “How?”


The dark night kept his eyes shadowed, but Jesse caught the way he held his shoulders so stiffly. “I already killed them once. I just get to do it while it can still mean something this time.”


Chapter 18