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

“Jess.” Gideon wasn’t moving. “Come here.”


Gideon’s tone was enough to make Jesse’s blood cold. He didn’t hesitate or question his directive. He wasn’t sure what he expected when he peered over Gideon’s shoulder, but it wasn’t the melted and warped axe at Gideon’s feet.


“I just touched it.” Even now, Gideon’s hands hovered over the deformed weapon, but the new wariness of his shoulders kept him from handling it again. “You don’t think this was one of the side effects Michelle warned us about, do you?”


“Yeah, I think it is. This hasn’t happened before?”


“No.” He eased to the side. “You touch it. See what happens.”


Jesse didn’t wantto touch it. But he bent anyway, and ran his fingers over the warped metal. Nothing happened. He increased the contact, then wrapped his fingers around the handle and lifted it without trouble.


“Maybe the dimension is just acting against you. I haven’t even been born yet, after all.”


Chapter 80