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

The vampire with the stake in his chest tried to pull himself to his feet, despite his injuries. Gideon didn’t have enough time to get between Marcus and the vampire before the uninjured vamp lunged for him again. Gideon slammed the heel of his hand into the attacker’s nose, pushing the bone up into his brain. Blood gushed over his face and Gideon’s hand, and it slowed him down, but didn’t stop him completely.


Gideon curled his hand into a fist, and he punched the vampire’s broken nose hard enough to snap his head back and send him stumbling against the wall, freeing a path to Marcus. He was doing a good job of dancing away from his vamp, but he didn’t make any attempt to pull the stake out his chest. Gideon got close enough to grab it and pull it out. The vampire made a single gesture to defend himself, but the second time the stake found the vampire’s chest, it was buried in his heart.


Chapter 54