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’d say it’s not what it looks like, but…” She shook her head, smiling shyly. “This is the weird thing for me. Sitting here with someone who knows Gideon like I do. Because I can make a joke in a room of a hundred people about how he likes to think nobody listens to him and I’m pretty sure you’d be the only person to laugh with me.”


Jesse snorted. “I never thought I’d meet anybody who knows him as well as I do. And I am really happy I got the chance to meet you. Though I bet if Gideon knew we would compare notes on him, he would have never asked you to come over.”


Mary surprised Jess by reaching across the distance that separated them and resting a slim hand on his knee. “I’m so glad he has you.” Her voice was as soft as her touch. “If my death brought out a monster in Marcus…well, Gideon’s monster is a lot closer to the surface. It’s a little scary to think where he could have gone.”


Chapter 77