I slid off her back, and Vic opened the door. Sila was in the middle of the room, helping patients from their beds and onto thick blanket-like pallets. She looked up as we entered.

“Those near the door are ready to be moved,” she said, then turned back to the pustule-marked teenager who was leaning heavily on her arm.

“There are more of them than I anticipated.” Victoria spoke in low tones to her centaurs. “Work quickly, Huntresses.”

“Sila!” Vic caught her attention. “We have very little time.”

Sila’s eyes widened, but the centaur Healer’s gentle voice did not betray the worry reflected in her eyes. “Listen, ladies!” The room became abruptly silent. “Those of you who are able must be transported astride the Huntresses. Stand if you think you are able to ride.” About a dozen young women rose slowly to their feet.

The Huntresses moved quickly to the standing women. I followed them, helping to lift the sick girls to the centaurs’ backs. As each Huntress turned to exit the room, a tall woman dressed in black blessed them and admonished them to hold tightly so they wouldn’t fall.

“Priestess,” I heard Sila addressing the woman when the last Huntress had left the room. “You must join the others at the river crossing.”

“I will not leave until this room is emptied,” was her dramatic reply.

She must be Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy. I wanted to roll my eyes and say, “That figures,” but I thought it’d be rude.

As I helped another teenager out of her bed, a dark-haired woman who was propped up against pillows caught my eye.

I almost called her Michelle, but caught myself in time.

“Terpsichore.” I stopped at her bedside, studying her. “You look well enough to ride, be sure to get on the next Huntress who returns.”

“My students leave first.” Her eyes were bright with fever and her face was flushed. She was obviously in the beginning stages of the disease.

“They need you with them.” I tried to reason with her, but I recognized the familiar stubborn set of her jaw. (Usually she was being stubborn about buying a $250 silk blouse when she could only afford a $40 cotton pullover, but it was the same immovable stubbornness.)

“And those who leave last will need me, too.”

“Fine.” I knew better than to waste my time arguing with her. “Just watch your butt when time gets short. You do not want to be caught by those things.” I started to walk away, and her voice stopped me.

“Rhiannon, I hear you have changed.”

“Yes, I am not like I used to be.”

“Then I truly do wish you happiness in your mating.” This time her blessing was genuine.

“Thank you.” I smiled at her, and went back to work, helping the sick girls get ready to be moved. I hoped she would show enough sense to get across the river—I didn’t want to think about what would happen to her if the creatures caught her. Except for the unnaturally bright flush of her skin, she was still breathtakingly beautiful.

I was lifting a wraith-thin girl from her bed and making her smile by telling her that she wouldn’t weigh ninety pounds soaking wet with a squirrel in her pocket, when the Huntresses slid back into the room in a clatter of hooves and began loading up for their second evacuation trip. The girl I was carrying shrieked suddenly with much more strength than I would have thought possible. I looked up to see Dougal burst through the open door.

“Get across the river now!” he shouted between ragged breaths. “The warriors are keeping them out of the temple for as long as possible, but they are close behind me.” His sides quivered, and he was spattered with blood and gore. There was an angry-looking slash across his shoulder, and another gash across his cheek was steadily seeping blood. He looked so much like his dying brother that I had to choke back tears.

Sila rushed to his side and began examining his many wounds.

The room broke into a cacophony of sound and motion until the tall Priestess, Melpomene, raised her black-robed arms, clapping her hands together in a bursting ball of sparks.

Yep, there sure as hell was magic here.

“This is what we shall do.” She spoke in an imperious tone. “Those of you who are able to ride will climb astride the Huntresses. Those of you who can walk, go down the rear pathway to the river. If you cannot make it to the bridge, conceal yourselves in the foliage near the water. The rest of us will remain here.”

“If you remain here, you will die.” I spoke with surety into the stillness of the room.

“Epona’s Chosen, you should know that we are not without defenses.” The Priestess smiled at me, and I was amazed at the transformation that occurred in her appearance. Her smile softened the harsh lines of her face, and let her underlying beauty become visible. “Wait no longer. Save yourselves. We have placed ourselves in the loving hands of our Goddesses.”