Page 125 of Meet Me on Greenwood

"Take the output cable from the second generator and connect it directly to the output terminal of the first. Don't touch the metal directly. Wrap your jacket around your hands."

He looked at the cables. Then at me. "That will cause a feedback loop."

I blinked. "Yes."

"It will spike the voltage and burn out both machines."

"Yes."

His eyes brightened with understanding. "And likely take out every electrical connection in the building."

He’d need to evacuate immediately, but he didn’t even stop to question it, just followed my instructions meticulously until I couldn’t watch him any longer.

"Houston." I met his eyes. "Will you sit with me before I go?"

"You know I will," he said without hesitation, connecting the last cable.

He sat behind me, pulling me towards him just as the ORI whirred to life in my hands. My body screamed in pain, but I didn’t care. My eyes were only on him. I felt like the only meaningful thing I had ever done for myself was slipping away before my own eyes.

Swallowing was painful. Houston met my gaze and I knew he was ready, but I wasn’t.

Tears escaped my eyes. "Kiss me one more time?"

He leaned in without question, brushing his lips against mine as if I was made from glass and he was afraid of breaking me. The amulet around my throat warmed, and I used that fire to pull him in closer, crushing my lips against his. If this was the last time, I wanted him, all of him. I wanted to merge our bodies together and never let go. Wetness fell on my cheeks, and he pulled away then, wiping away his own tears. He closed his eyes tightly, and when they opened, they were tortured but still, as if he was willing himself to be strong for me.

"I wanted to tell you something about Paul," I whispered.

"He is my father," he said, rubbing his tears from my cheek.

My eyes widened. "How did you—"

"He told me finally," he said. "Though Beth his wife tried to tell me long before, I think. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out."

I smiled, running my hands through his hair. "You even look like him."

"My mother served in his house,” he continued. ”They were childhood friends, and at some point, he fell for her. After his folks found out, they set her up in Arkansas, where she had me."

"How sad for the two of them," I said, knowing that Houston and I were living our own tragic love story.

"He only found out I existed after my mother wrote him, right before she died. He helped me in every way he could after that, creating a scholarship that paid for medical school, he even helped me buy my home." He shook his head. "I knew that deal was too good to be true."

"He’s a good man." I said touching his face. "So are you."

"I don’t feel like one."

"You are," I said, removing the ring he’d just given me from my finger. "You are going to get these people to safety. Only come out after the bombs have fallen."

He met my gaze intensely, and then he blinked realizing I was being serious.

I placed the ring in his palm. "Find me," I said.

He nodded slowly. "I will."

I reached for the ORI. "Are you ready?"

He nodded, though his eyes told me the truth. It was the same truth for me. I would never feel ready to leave him.

I took a deep breath, took one last look at him and what I was giving up. I’d nearly convinced myself I could stay and we could make a run for it, but the ache in my gut said otherwise.