The Dreaming Hunt by Cindy Dees

still jangled too badly to let her sleep. How on Urth had anyone interrupted that ritual? It had actually been going very well until that first surge of … disturbance, for lack of any better way of thinking of it. She’d been calling and molding spirit magic for as long as she had memory, and she’d never encountered anything like the ripple that passed through all the spirit magic in the land. It was as if a piece of her own soul had torn loose and been destroyed.
    And then the attacks on the curse circle that had panicked Rosana and whatever had happened to put Will on the floor in writhing agony … she’d have called them backlashes if the ritual hadn’t continued on as it had.
    She’d never heard of anyone or anything that could corrupt a ritual like that. But then, she’d never heard of any of the stuff six months ago that she and her friends were currently elbow deep in. Like it or not, they all had enemies now.
    Should they consider stopping their search for the Sleeping King’s regalia? Did they dare stop? They were already so deep into treason that none of them would survive capture by Imperial forces of any kind. They already had no homes, no families, no names left. At this point, they had little to lose by continuing on.
    She pulled the thin blanket up around her ears. Not that it blocked out the low groans of whatever injury had just stumbled in. The flow of sick and hurt people through the building never stopped. She yanked the blanket all the way over her head.
    Stars, she really hated the Heart sometimes. She’d just wanted to live a normal life. To grow up at home in her beloved Tyrel, marry her childhood sweetheart, Justin, and raise a family. She’d never dreamed of this for herself.
    She glared up at the White Heart tabard hanging on its hook beside her, its pristine white bright in the light leaking past her curtain, the royal blue Heart symbol on it a dark shadow in the dim alcove. And she’d certainly never dreamed of joining that order.
    Her thoughts circled back to the failed ritual. She had cast plenty of high magic rituals before, but none had ever made her feel so trapped or claustrophobic. The magics tonight had suffocated her, pushing in until she’d been hard-pressed not to bolt from the circle. That same restlessness overcame her now. With a resentful glare for it, she snatched her tabard off the hook and dragged the White Heart colors over her head. She jammed her feet into her boots and headed out into the common room.
    A lizardman healer looked up in surprise from the wounded man he was healing. His green scales and broad, kind face were markedly different from Sha’Li’s black scales and heart-shaped features. His eyes were dark with compassion and concern for his patient.
    â€œCan I assist you, Brother Lizmorn?” she mumbled, checking her irritation. No sense taking out her foul mood on everyone around her.
    â€œNo, thank you. I’ve got this. And you tired yourself out with that ritual. Rest, Initiate Raina.”
    If only. On cue, the walls of the common room and the low, heavy-beamed ceiling with temporary braces propped all along its length started to close in on her. She had to get out of here. Grabbing her cloak from its hook by the door, she made for the exit. At this time of night, the wizard’s lock was in place around the entire building, and a Royal Order of the Sun knight was pulling door duty, wizard’s lock key in hand to let people in or out of the building.
    â€œGoing somewhere?” he asked her.
    She recognized him, a red-haired barbarian warrior newly come from serving with Lord Justinius—commander of the entire Royal Order of the Sun. “I’m just stepping out, Sir Hrothgar. I need some air.”
    â€œIt’s too late for a young girl to be roaming the streets of Dupree alone.”
    â€œNonetheless, that’s exactly what I intend to do. The wizard’s lock,