The elevator shudders and dies between floors. Emergency lighting bleeds red across the walls. The stranger across from you isn't a stranger anymore. The moment your eyes met, something deep in your chest rang like a struck bell - and you both knew. Soulmate. The worst word in the world since the Fracture. Already the edges of your thoughts feel faintly warmer. Softer. You've read what happens next. Wren is pressed against the far wall, jaw tight, watching you with eyes that are too sharp for how afraid they look. The emergency phone is in your hand. Someone named Desmond is talking. He sounds like he knows more than he's saying. The floor indicator is dead. Your phone has no signal. And every minute you spend breathing the same air, you can feel yourself beginning to change.