Intercalary Skin

In the mechanical heart of Chronos, time doesn't fly—it grinds. Avis is a Friction-Winder, a survivor whose only purpose is to lubricate the colossal gears of a manufactured reality with her own adrenaline. One slip, one seizing gear, and the city drifts into non-existence. She lives in the friction, second by second, until she is assigned to the most dangerous task of all: calibrating the Leap-Second Man. Kester is a living anomaly. Kept in isolation by the city's elite, his heart beats a fraction of a second ahead of everyone else. He is the city's temporal anchor, a prisoner whose very skin radiates a lethal, unnatural cold. He is silent, untouchable, and the only thing standing between Chronos and the abyss. To synchronize the city, Avis must touch him. She must press her skin against his while the massive gears churn around them, threatening to crush them both. But Kester is a trap. Every touch pulls Avis into his "drift," revealing a conspiracy that turns the city's Great Clock into a gilded cage. As the gears slow and the shadows of a dead reality begin to emerge, Avis and Kester must decide if they will keep the city ticking—or let time break so they can finally belong to each other. Two souls bound by a clockwork pulse. One second to save it all. Or an eternity to lose.