Somehow, we made it. The buggy slammed down onto the ground on the other side with barely an inch to spare. I nearly puked, the adrenaline and the bounce making my stomach lurch.

Yep, gonna lose my tuna!

I glared at Muffin. “No talking about tuna!”

Just the thought of the smell made me gag.

The buggy slowed to a halt. Beside me, Lachlan stood. I turned, heart thundering, to check on my sisters. Bree and Rowan were both wide-eyed and pale, while Princess Snowflake III looked pissed as hell. Bojangles had a ridiculous grin on his face, of course.

Behind us, the fauns shrieked and foamed at the mouth. Several of them leapt off the cliff, trying to reach us.

“Wow, they’re determined,” I muttered.

They’re idiots.

“True enough, Muffin.” I looked up at Lachlan. “You okay?”

“Fine.” Color was returning to his face, at least.

Rowan began to laugh like a loon. “That was amazing!”

I turned back to her, a grin on my face. She met my gaze, her eyes bright. Then the smile faded.

What the heck?

I turned to see whatever she was seeing.

In front of our buggy, a massive cougar prowled. The cat was enormous, with sleek tan fur and brilliant gold eyes. His lips pulled back from his long fangs as he growled.

Muffin’s little jaw dropped. Whoa.

Before I could process what to do, or Bree could step on the gas, Lachlan leapt off the front platform. Magic sparked as he shifted midair, and he landed on the ground as a lion. His black fur glinted in the sun, sleek and shiny.

He roared, the sound shaking my bones, and prowled toward the other cat. They were evenly sized, two enormous predators who looked ready to tear into each other.

My gaze darted between them, fear chewing at my nerve endings.

“Are they going to fight?” Bree asked.

“I don’t know.” I hoped not.

Lachlan prowled closer, his muscles rippling beneath his fur. The cougar made a growling sound that came straight from the depths of hell.

I’m going to go help our boy. Muffin made to jump off the platform, but I grabbed his skinny back.

“No.” I squinted at the cougar. “Something is wrong.”

He didn’t feel evil. There was no dark magic sparking off of him.

Lachlan stopped in his tracks.

He felt it, too.

The cougar was a good guy. I was sure of it. Even my druid sense was screaming that they shouldn’t fight.

“He’s not evil,” Bree said.

I turned to her. “Can you feel that?”

She and Rowan both nodded. As one, we turned and shouted, “Don’t fight! We’re on the same side.”

The cougar tilted his head, like he was trying to figure us out. Lachlan’s magic swelled, and he shifted back to human form.

“Okay, that’s a risk,” Bree said.

“Brave dude,” Rowan said.

“Idiot.” I scowled. The cougar hadn’t agreed we were all on the same side, so it was freaking premature to shift back. Lachlan had his magic, but that cougar had big-ass fangs and could tear into his belly in a second.

Lachlan raised his hands. “We’re not here to cause trouble.”

The cougar crouched low, growling.

The hair on my neck stood on end.

Ah, crap. This wasn’t going well.

“We’re just trying to pass through,” Lachlan said.

The cougar looked from Lachlan to us, then to the fauns who were still shrieking on the other side of the ravine. Finally, he stopped growling.

A moment later, golden magic swirled around him, and he shifted into the form of a man. Ink-black hair and sun-browned skin complemented the leather breeches and vest he wore. A bow and arrow were strapped over his back. He looked like one of the Native Americans who’d lived here before white folks had come in and caused a mess.

“Who are you?” His voice was rusty, as if from disuse, but the command was clear.

“I’m Lachlan Munroe.” He gestured to us. “And these are my friends.”

“Ana.” I waved.

“Bree.”

“Rowan.”

The cats meowed.

Fates, we were a weird group.

“What are you doing here?”

I climbed off the buggy and approached. “Trying to pass through. Our friends are at Hider’s Haven, and we need to get to them.”

“You’re not with them?” He pointed to the fauns. “Or with the other new monsters?”

“No.” I shook my head sharply. “So they are new. We thought so. We’ve never seen them in the desert before.”

A scowl creased his brow. “Very new. The desert has changed in the past two days.” He made a sweeping gesture with his arm. “This place is different. A half realm full of new monsters from a faraway land.”

Ah, so that was it. The fates must have created some kind of half realm here in order to bring their Roman monsters.

“Italy,” I said. “They’re from Roman myth.”

His scowl grew deeper. “Damned Romans, always conquering.”

“I’m not a fan of them myself,” I said. “I think this half realm is now here because we’re here. Because our friends are in Hider’s Haven. The ones who brought these monsters here are called The Fates. They want us for some reason. They’ve been kidnapping our friends.”

“So these monsters are here to capture you,” he said.

“Yes,” I said.

The man nodded. “If they step foot out of the haven, they’ll be here, surrounded by enemies. But if you can get them out, then perhaps these new monsters will leave.”

“I think so.” But man, it was going to be tough to get Ali and Haris out of there if these monsters were waiting for us at the haven’s exit.

He nodded, clearly having decided. “Fine, I will help you get to the haven. I am called Puma Spirit in your language.”

“Thank you, Puma Spirit.”

He shook my hand, then Lachlan’s. He pointed to the buggy. “Let’s go. That is fastest.”

We climbed on, with Puma Spirit on the front platform with Lachlan. I joined Rowan at the back.

Puma Spirit turned to Bree. “Drive toward the setting sun, heading west. There is an exit from this half realm at the other side of the valley. It will put you at Hider’s Haven.”

Bree drove us toward the setting sun, which was still a couple hours from reaching the horizon. The drive was uneventful for the first fifteen minutes, until the mirage appeared on the horizon.

I squinted and shielded my eyes against the sun. “What is that?”

“Looks like a half-built castle,” Bree said.

“Your eyes are good.” Puma Spirit nodded. “It is the half-finished castle of the Princess of the Timbisha Shoshone people.”

“Why is it half finished?” I asked.

“She was a cruel mistress, forcing her people to build her a castle. At first, they did it because they loved her and royalty was sacred. But she became crueler over time, until they were no more than slaves.”

“That’s terrible.” I loved castles, but not that one.

“It was. Finally, she worked her own daughter to death. It was only upon the loss of her child that she realized what she had done to her people. By then, most had died. The rest left her and the unfinished castle, escaping to another place.”

“So she stayed there alone?” Bree asked.

“Not for long. Soon after everyone left, she died of fever. Alone.”

I couldn’t help but think it was a fitting fate. Tragic, of course, but she’d destroyed her people. Killed her own daughter.

As we neared it, I caught sight of the beautiful structure. It was an enormous place of half-finished walls and incomplete towers. The architecture was different from all the other castles I’d seen, since they were European, but it was gorgeous.

Bree kept the buggy a safe distance from the castle. We hadn’t passed it yet, but when we did, we’d be over a mile to the left.

“What’s that?” Rowan’s voice dragged my attention to the front of the buggy.

In the distance, there was a dark line across the horizon.

“It’s soldiers,” Bree said. “A lot of them.”

“Roman?” I asked.

“From the look of their clothes and armor, yes. And they have war elephants.”

“Definitely Roman.” I cursed.

“They’re blocking our way,” Puma Spirit said. “There are too many of them for us to get past safely. Even if we broke through the line, the rest would close in.”

He was right. We were just barely close enough that I could make out thousands of soldiers. My heart began to pound.

“Go to the castle,” Puma Spirit said.

I whipped toward him. “There?”

“It’s our only shelter. We’ll beg the princess for protection.”

“She’s there?” Lachlan asked.

“Her ghost is. And she’s powerful.”

“No offense intended,” Rowan said, “but she sounds like a real selfish bitch.”

“We will have to hope she has learned her lesson,” he said.

“So you haven’t visited her before? You don’t know she’s learned her lesson?” I asked.

“Only once have I visited the castles, and I did not speak to her.” He shook his head. “We will have to hope for the best.”

Muffin, who sat in the passenger seat, meowed. I’ll charm her.

“Sure you will,” I said.

Bree turned the buggy toward the shadowy castle, driving so that we were parallel with the line of soldiers that was closing in. They were fast, even on foot, and by the time we neared the castle, I could see their shields.

There were so damned many of them.

Up close, the castle lost its mirage-like appearance. It just looked…sad. But as we passed through, my skin prickled with awareness.

The ghost of the princess was definitely here. I could feel her gaze on me.

“Creepy,” Rowan muttered next to me.

“No insults,” Puma Spirit said.

Rowan blushed. “Sorry.”

I squeezed her hand, shooting her a look that said I agreed. It was damned creepy here.

The buggy rolled through a great open arch that marked the perimeter of the castle, entering a courtyard filled with dry scrub brush and surrounded on all sides by half-finished walls. The air was cooler, and shade stretched across the ground.

“Stop here,” Puma Spirit said.

Bree hit the brakes.

“We wait.” Puma Spirit leaned against the safety rail, his arms crossed over his chest.

I did the same, though just standing here was hell on my nerves. The Romans were approaching, getting closer with every minute. I could just imagine their war elephants trundling along, ready to knock down the walls and stomp on us. Not that they’d need to. There were no doors. We’d driven right in, and so could they.

I glanced at Rowan, worried.

Was this really our best plan? Waiting in this sad shell of a castle, hoping a ghostly princess would come help us?

Then again, we didn’t have much choice. Puma Spirit was right about the oncoming army. Even if we broke through their lines, they could close in on us from the sides, too many to defeat.

So we waited.

The hair on my arms stood on end as anxiety raced through me.

Come on. Come on.

I wanted to jump up and yell, “Princess!”

But yeah, that wouldn’t work.

Finally, the air chilled to freezing. I straightened, senses on high alert. A shockwave rolled out through the castle, icy cold. I stumbled, barely keeping myself upright.

Puma Spirit’s shoulders relaxed. “She is here. The castle is protected.”

“For now.” The voice was as cold as the air, and even more regal.

I turned to find the owner and spotted a transparent white ghost in the middle of the courtyard. She was so skeletal that she looked like she barely had any flesh on her bones. But her dress was beautiful—an incredible piece of artwork embroidered and beaded with thousands of decorations. Her hair, which would have been dark if she weren’t a ghost, was piled high on her head. Black eyes burned into me.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

Puma Spirit knelt, his head bowed.

On instinct, I dropped to my knees as well. My sisters and Lachlan did the same. Then the cats bowed. Even Princess Snowflake III.

Clearly, she knew this was a big freaking deal. With the Roman army coming for us, we really needed the favor of the evil princess.

“We seek your protection, Princess,” Puma Spirit said. “From the army that is bearing down upon your walls.”

“Why should I do that?”

“Those who seek to harm us are evil,” he said. “You would know about that.”

I almost gasped, biting it back at the last minute. Had he really just called the princess evil?

He had.

I peeked up, desperate for a glance at her face.

Would she smite us?

But her expression was sad.

“Yes,” she said. “I do understand.”

Oh, wow. So she really did feel guilty about what she’d done. And Puma Spirit had just totally guilt tripped her. I sent him an appraising glance. Well done, Puma Spirit.

“I will hold them off,” she said. “They have surrounded the castle now, but they cannot enter. My magic prevents it. If you want to escape, you must break through their line.”

“Can you hold them, once we’ve broken through?” I asked. That was a super important part of the puzzle, after all.

“I can. For long enough that you can get away. But you’ll need to be fast.”

“Oh, we can be fast,” Bree said.

“Then rise,” the princess said.

I stood, my knees aching.

“You may use the top ramparts to determine your plan.” The princess pointed to some stairs that lined the wall, leading up. “You have twenty minutes. At most. Including the time you need to run. Then my magic will falter.”

“Thank you.” Everyone spoke in unison.

“Let’s go.” I jumped off the buggy and hurried to the stairs, my companions joining me. We sprinted to the top, and the view took my breath away.

The castle was surrounded by thousands of Romans. More than I’d ever assumed.

They spotted us and roared, their collective voices shaking my bones. I shivered. Hundreds of spears and swords and bows and arrows waved in the air, each soldier armed to the teeth. Though they strained to break through the protective enchantment, the princess’s magic held strong. The air was still so chilly that my skin almost hurt, but it was a comforting pain. Without this magic, we’d be dead.

I turned to Puma Spirit. “You were right. We never would have made it through without help.”

He nodded. “The princess was our only hope.”

I spun, taking in the legions. They were equally thick all around us, stacked dozens of men deep.

“How will we break through them?” Rowan asked.

“I have an idea,” Bree said.