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 woke up, and you weren’t there.And you weren’t out here. And for all I knew, you’d decided to make a pot of coffee and went up in smoke because you touched the water or some shit like that.” Abruptly, Gideon let him go, taking a step back. He folded his arms over his chest until he looked like an indomitable wall of muscle. “You have no idea how badly I want to beat the shit out of you right now.”


“Gideon…” Jesse thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest. He kept waiting for the stress to trigger another flashback, or a panic attack, or whatever the hell they were. But regardless of how angry Gideon was, Jesse didn’t feel truly threatened. He never did with Gideon. Without taking his eyes from Gideon’s face, he sank to his knees and put his hands behind his back.


Gideon’s only visible reaction was to blink.


“I stayed in this dimension because of you. Because you asked me to, boy.”


“I know. Thank you.” Jesse paused, then added softly, “Sir.”


Chapter 65