Chapter 17 The Beast Within

• I stood still, unable to breathe, my heart racing so loudly that it drowned out everything else. Asher—if it was really him—moved closer, and I stumbled back, almost tripping over the roots on the forest floor.
• “Asher?” My voice shook, barely audible. But the figure that looked like him smiled, and it wasn’t the smile I remembered. It was cold, sinister, and had an unsettling, unnatural glow.
• “That’s not him,” Julian said, his voice low but urgent. “Bonnie, we need to leave now.”