Ethan stood frozen, his mind struggling to make sense of what had just happened. The girl—no, the **angel**—was looking at him like he was an inconvenience. The weight of her golden gaze made his stomach twist with unease.

  His heart pounded in his ears, a dull roar drowning out the distant sirens. His breath hitched. His body screamed at him to run, but he couldn’t move. Not when her piercing eyes held him in place like an unspoken command.

  “What… what are you?” he managed to stammer, taking a hesitant step back.

  The angel exhaled sharply, irritation flashing across her face. “Great. They picked a clueless one.”

  Ethan frowned. “Excuse me?”

  She ignored him, stepping out of the smoldering crater, her silver hair catching the faint glow of the streetlights. People were still shouting, sirens in the distance growing louder. The entire city had noticed her arrival.

  “We need to leave,” she muttered, scanning their surroundings.

  “Wait, **what**? I don’t even know who you are!” Ethan protested, but she had already grabbed his wrist. The moment her fingers wrapped around him, a strange warmth flooded his body. His pulse quickened as something **shifted** inside him, an invisible thread pulling him toward her. His breath hitched.

  A sharp, searing sensation rippled through his chest—not painful, but undeniable. Like a second heartbeat awakening within him.

  “What—what is this?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  The angel’s expression darkened. “The bond.”

  Ethan had no idea what that meant, but he didn’t have time to ask. The distant sirens were getting too close, and she was already pulling him into the nearest alleyway, away from prying eyes. Her grip was firm, her steps purposeful, as if she had done this a thousand times before.

  Once they were hidden, she finally let go, crossing her arms as she turned to face him. “Listen, human. I don’t have time to explain everything to you right now, so let’s make this simple: I’m an angel. You’re the human I was assigned to. Unfortunately, that means we’re stuck together now.”

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  Ethan blinked. “Stuck?”

  She nodded, clearly displeased. “Yes. Thanks to some ancient celestial ritual, I’m supposed to share my power with a human. And, for some unfathomable reason, **you** were chosen.”

  Ethan’s head was spinning. This had to be some sort of elaborate prank. Maybe he had fallen asleep watching one of those over-the-top fantasy movies, and this was just some bizarre dream. But then… he looked at her again. The way she carried herself, the otherworldly glow in her eyes—it was **real**.

  He swallowed hard. “You’re serious.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Took you long enough to figure that out.”

  Ethan rubbed his temples. “Okay, let’s say I believe you. Why me? I’m not special. I’m not strong. I’m just—”

  “—ordinary?” she finished for him, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, I can see that.”

  “Wow, thanks,” he muttered. “That makes me feel **so** much better.”

  The angel sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Look, I don’t like this any more than you do. I wasn’t exactly **excited** to be bound to some random human. But fate decided, and now we’re connected.”

  Ethan hesitated. “Connected… how?”

  Her golden eyes met his, and for the first time, there was something beneath the irritation—something serious. “The bond means our fates are intertwined. If you get hurt, I feel it. If I get hurt, **you** feel it.”

  Ethan felt a cold chill run through him. “That… that sounds like a terrible deal for you.”

  She scoffed. “Glad you’re catching on. It’s why most angels don’t take this lightly. Once we share our power, it’s permanent. I can never choose another human.”

  “Never?”

  She shook her head. “One bond. One lifetime.”

  Ethan absorbed her words in silence. He never thought of himself as someone important—just a kid drifting through life, invisible to the world. But now, somehow, an angel had been **forced** to share her power with him. It was overwhelming.

  He hesitated before asking, “So… what’s your name?”

  The angel blinked, as if the question surprised her. After a pause, she exhaled and muttered, “Seraphina.”

  “Seraphina,” Ethan repeated, testing the name on his tongue. It suited her.

  She looked away. “Don’t get used to it.”

  Before he could respond, a sudden, sharp pain flared in his chest, stealing the air from his lungs. It felt like a hot dagger driving into his ribs. He staggered, clutching his side. The pain wasn’t his—it belonged to someone else.

  Seraphina tensed, her face momentarily contorted in pain before she quickly masked it. “They’re here.”

  Ethan barely had time to process her words before the shadows around them began to shift. The air turned ice-cold, and a deep, guttural growl echoed through the alleyway. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

  Something **was watching them.**

  Seraphina stepped in front of him, her eyes blazing. “Stay behind me, human.”

  Ethan didn’t argue. For the first time in his life, **he wasn’t invisible anymore.**

  And he wasn’t sure he liked it.