Acolytes of Nimue: An Urban Fantasy Adventure (Ruby Morgan Book 7) by LJ Rivers

Author:LJ Rivers [Rivers, LJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inspirert Publishing
Published: 2020-08-03T04:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

The orange sun hid behind a thin veil of clouds over the dark green fields to the northeast. Grains of sand found their way between my toes as I strolled along the beach. The gentle susurration of the sea caressed the shore and sang in my ears. I inhaled, catching every nuance of scent in the air. There was salt, of course, and seaweed, but also the earthy smell of the surrounding farmland, reminding me of home. A few sheep were bleating in the distance, and a horse whinnied.

A reflection caught my eye, and I stopped to examine it. By my feet lay a conch, much bigger than any I had seen before. I had no idea such large seashells could be found in the UK, but then again, had I ever known much about seashells?

I picked it up and dusted the sand off it. It was rougher on the outside than I had expected, with several spikes protruding from the spiral shape. Inside, however, it was shiny and smooth, and the colours that played in the evening sunlight were mesmerising. Wasn’t there something about hearing the sea inside a conch? I held it to my ear.

At first I couldn’t tell if I was hearing the actual ocean or if it came from the conch. Then the sound changed, from the soothing waves to a low rumble, like a storm blowing on the other side of a hill. I tried to pull the seashell away from my ear as the sound grew louder, but my hand wouldn’t obey. It was starting to hurt. What the fudge? The waves rolled closer, and the sound changed once more, as if I were dialling on an old radio, looking for the station between the white noise and static.

Words. There were words caught in the whooshing sounds.

… the trinity … the blood … the key … open the door of infinity … you can open it, Ruby.

Ruby!

With a jolt, I threw the conch away. It hit a rock, and shattered.

That voice! Had it come from inside the shell? That made no sense. What made even less sense was that I recognised it. I had heard it from the chalice that night in the aircraft hangar. Nimue!

But then again, it wasn’t her. Had it not been a male voice? Yes, it was William, the old Phoenix.

No, that wasn’t it, either.

Was I going mad?

The voice inside the conch had been that of my father. Auberon.

Ruby!

“Ruby, are you OK?”

“Hm?” I opened my eyes, blinking to focus. “Ch—Char?”

“I heard you moaning. Are you sick or something?”

I sat up, remembering where I was. My bedroom at my grandparents’ house. I had gone in here to read after we came back from the trip to the island.

“Must have fallen asleep. I had a strange dream, is all. Is Brendan back?”

“Not yet. It’s only been an hour, and Llewellyn said it would take at least two to get all the fence posts up. You hungry?”

I shook my head, suddenly aware that my book—William’s book—lay open next to me on the bed.

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