Ariel stepped through the opening and stood on a ledge overlooking an enormous subterranean cavern hollowed into the mountain.

She had been expecting something creepy, but instead what she saw was beautiful. Below squatted hundreds of sprawling, fenced-off estates. Within each of them were mansions sided in precious metals or gems. The siding was all of one type: either gold, silver, or gems running the gamut from diamonds to emeralds.

Multitudes of LEDs embedded in the cavern ceiling provided dim illumination, approximating the light levels of twilight. But even that relative dimness was enough to set many of those gems sparkling below.

Two guards lurked just inside the entrance on either side of her. Unlike the previous pair, these two didn’t seem armed in any way. They were dressed differently as well, wearing black fatigues, like the kind she would’ve expected black ops men to own. They also wore headsets composed of tiny earpieces and mics that extended in front of their lips. And while they were just as beautiful as the others, they were extremely pale. She supposed that was what happened when you stayed inside a cave all day.

She met the eyes of one of them and the man grinned to reveal two long fangs.

Ariel involuntarily stepped back. There was the creepiness she was expecting.

Jett laid a protective hand across her chest and addressed the men. “This woman is not to be touched. Spread the word among the White Swords and Black Guard.”

The men bowed.

“It will be done,” one of them said. He continued to eye Ariel hungrily as he spoke quietly into the mic of his headset.

Jett started down the long winding trail that led into the valley and the mansions it contained.

Ariel hurried after him, not wanting to be left near those two.

“Were those… vampires?” she asked.

“Yes,” Jett said. “We captured many slaves in the last war, including a sizable number of vampires. They make excellent guards, and are good at performing the hard labor necessary to maintain our city. Though keeping them fed has proven challenging at times.”

“Slaves,” Ariel said. “That seems wrong. Even if they are vampires.”

“Then don’t think of them as slaves,” Jett said. “But rather prisoners of war who serve us on a contract basis. When their contracts expire, we release them.”

“I see.” She shook her head. “You know, a week ago I would’ve never believed any of this. But now anything goes. I guess your world view kind of goes through a seismic shift when you can turn into a lioness at the drop of a hat. What about the two hidden outside the main entrance? Vampires, as well? They’re kind of tanned, though, and missing the headsets and all.”

“Those two?” Jett said. “Members of my kind. Not vampires. Vampires don’t make good surface sentries as they have what you’d call sensitive skin. The melting-away-when-exposed-to-the-sun variety.”

“I see,” Ariel said. “What about the headsets?”

“You’re a curious one, aren’t you?” Jett said. “The two at the main entrance were in fact wearing headsets, you just didn’t notice. You were probably distracted by the assault rifles they carried.”

“Probably,” Ariel admitted.

“The headsets are for communication with other surface teams distributed in front of different exits. Their signals don’t pass through the thick mountain, so if the teams need to call for reinforcements, they use the equivalent of land lines.”

“So you’re saying if I had a cellphone, I wouldn’t be able to get a signal in here?” Ariel asked him, somewhat sarcastically.

“Good guess,” Jett replied.

She walked quietly for a few moments, following him down the winding path toward the city.

“What was that you said about your kind?” Ariel asked.

He shook his head as if not understanding the question.

“You called those two men ‘members of my kind,’” Ariel said.

“And indeed, they are,” he replied cryptically.

“You mean humans?” she pressed.

Jett shrugged.

Ariel shook her head and continued walking. Human. She was only half human, now. It was a troubling thought. All she wanted was for things to go back to the way they were before. To go back to her life and her friends. But she never could, not anymore. There was nothing for her out there. Nothing but a life spent on the run, hunted by lions. A life that would require her to stay forever away from human settlements and cities for fear she might attack and kill someone.

So she might as well follow Hottie McHotness into the depths of the mountain and into this strange city. Whatever awaited her here couldn’t be much worse than the ruined life she’d left behind. Not that she could disobey even if she wanted to, not with the spell he’d used on her, whatever it was. Maybe it wasn’t even a spell: he could’ve slipped something into the slab of meat he’d fed her.

Either way, she could feel the tightness of compulsion around her body even now, squeezing subtly around her core. If she tried to disobey and turn back, the invisible vise would tighten until she found it hard to breathe. If she continued to resist beyond that point, she had no doubt she would fall unconscious, perhaps die.

Curiosity compelled her forward as much as any compulsion, though. An entire city hidden under a mountain in the middle of the country? A city not shown on any known maps? Of course she had to visit it, if only once.

Her eyes had finished adjusting to the dimmer light in the central cavern, and with her enhanced vision the illumination was basically the equivalent of daylight.

She gazed at those overhead lights, which now seemed so bright to her.

“Where do you get the power for all of this?” she asked. “Unless you managed to convince the local utility company to hook you up.”

“Various sources,” Jett said. “We have solar panels and wind farms scattered throughout the mountain range, but much comes from the Strength.”

“The Strength?”

“You really don’t know?” he asked.

“Why would I?” she said.

The question seemed to trouble him, and his voice seemed taut when he spoke: “The Strength is the life-giving energy that runs through the universe. That same Strength powers your gift of transformation.”

“Gift?” she said. “You mean curse.”

“It depends on your point of view, I suppose,” Jett said. “And how you came to acquire the gift.”

“My acquisition wasn’t pleasant,” Ariel said. “Not at all.”

His face further darkened upon hearing those words.

The two of them reached the bottom of the winding path, where two more vampire guards stood on duty. When Jett wasn’t watching, one of them lewdly gazed at Ariel’s bare legs underneath the dress shirt and licked his lips.

The lioness clawed inside of her, trying to get out, but could not. She felt strangely defenseless without the beast.

She quickly looked away and wrapped her fingers around Jett’s hand. It felt so silky and warm to the touch. He looked at her in confusion for a moment, but didn’t release her. She was grateful, because she felt safe with him holding her.

They stepped along a street bordered by estates on either side. Most of the stone walls and fences were gem-encrusted, usually matching the siding of the mansions beyond.

Some of the gates in the fences were open, allowing her to peer into the estates. In addition to the mansions, there were usually various outbuildings, like on a farm. She often caught sight of cattle pens full of cows and bulls. High-powered fans lined those pens, probably to keep the stench away from the mansions. Those fans prevented the smell from reaching the road, too, because she couldn’t smell the animals, even with her enhanced senses. That was probably a good thing. She didn’t entirely trust that her beast would remain caged, despite the invisible power Jett claimed would prevent her from changing—one whiff of those animals and she might not be able to stop the lioness from awakening and tearing apart its lunch.

She could still feel the beast trying to come to the surface, clawing away. It was an uncomfortable, persistent feeling, vaguely similar to being on the verge of an orgasm and yet never being able to find release. Though instead of pleasure acting as the culmination of that release, there would be only pain.

She clamped down, hard, and the feeling finally went away.

The streets were mostly empty save for vampire guards who patrolled in pairs, dressed in those black fatigues and tiny headsets. There was also the occasional bearded dwarf, strolling with purpose toward some estate or other with a lumpy sack slung over one shoulder. The little people regarded her and her shirtless guide cautiously as they passed, and usually nodded stiffly at Jett.

“What are they carrying?” she asked.

“Gems,” Jett said. “We allow them to live among us in exchange for harvesting the precious metals from the depths of our mountains. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. They get our protection, and we get gems for our hoards.”

“Your hoards?” she said.

Jett merely shrugged mysteriously.

As they neared the center of the subterranean city, the estates became smaller and the buildings packed closer together. The walls were lower, too, as if the denizens within wanted to show off their wealth. The mansions here were all gold or silver, and lacked cattle pens. She sometimes spotted swimming pools in front of the mansions, or even embedded in a rooftop, and men and women frolicked in the waters or lounged in chairs. They were all too beautiful to be ordinary human beings.

The streets became more crowded here, too, the dwarf traffic replaced with gorgeous humans of both sexes, their skin bronze like Jett’s. They all wore fashionable clothes straight out of big European cities and haute couture magazines.

The denizens saluted Jett respectfully as he passed, but when their eyes met Ariel, adoration was replaced with contempt, especially among the women. At first she thought it was because she was wearing only a dress shirt over her otherwise naked, grime-covered body, but then she noticed the gazes of the women often dropped to her hand, which still gripped Jett’s, before their mouths twisted into sneers. Some seemed jealous, others amused.

She tried to free herself from Jett’s grasp, hoping to end the unwanted attention, but he wouldn’t let her.

“I want them to know who you belong to,” Jett said.

“I belong to no one,” she said.

But she couldn’t break his incredibly strong grip, and finally she simply surrendered to his touch. Indeed, as she received more of those disdainful looks, she squeezed his hand tighter than ever, hanging on to him as if he were a lifeline in a sea of hate.

It was lucky transforming was impossible here, because otherwise her inner lioness would have been wiping the smirks off all those faces.

Jett took her through a gate guarded by two more black-clad vampires and led her onto a vast estate. The spacious property was at odds with most of the estates she had seen near the center of the subterranean city, where prime real estate was scarce and the mansions essentially abutted one another.

She soon found herself gazing up at the biggest mansion she had seen yet, one so huge that it was essentially a castle. Like Jett’s shirt, the walls were composed of ebony shot through with gold, almost like marble.

Jett led her past two more vampire guards at the entrance.

“You employ a lot of vampires,” she commented.

“They keep hours that work for me,” Jett said.

Inside, strategically placed light fixtures illuminated a cheery foyer of cherrywood panels and bright tapestries.

Jett led her through a luxurious kitchen, replete with hardwood floors and all the amenities of modern life—dishwasher, fridge, microwave, and so forth—and up a spiral staircase carpeted in exquisite white fur. The staircase opened up onto different levels but he continued upward, finally stopping on the fourth floor. He led down a hallway, pausing beside a small room with a pink bed and matching curtains.

“This guest room will be yours,” he said. “You’ll find clothes of all sizes in the closet. Shower, then pick out some undergarments, and a shirt and pants.” He opened the door next to the guest room, revealing a bathroom. “I’ve dismissed the servants from this level. The entire floor is yours. Get cleaned up. After you’ve showered and changed, return to the kitchen. I’ll have a meal prepared. Assuming you’re still hungry after the gazelle meat I fed you earlier.”

“Famished,” she said. Her face scrunched up. “Wait a second, gazelle meat?”

“Yes, it was a gift from one of my subjects,” he said. “We raise hundreds of cattle breeds here. Variety is the spice of life, after all.”

“I have a feeling you guys are big meat eaters,” she said.

“That’s about right,” Jett told her. “We’re certainly not vegetarians. And neither are you.”

“No,” she agreed. “By the way, are you sure you didn’t put something in that meat to make me obey? Or was it really magic?”

“Ah yes,” Jett said. “Thank you for reminding me.”

The tightness she’d felt around her body abruptly vanished.

“I’ve lifted the compulsion,” Jett said. “You’re no longer forced to obey.”

“Uh, thanks,” Ariel said. Guess it was magic after all.

Jett began to walk away. “If you need anything, Dan can help you,” he said over his shoulder.

“Dan?”

“The computer system that keeps Midnight City running smoothly,” Jett said.

“You named your computer system Dan?” she said. “Seems a bit too common for a computer.”

“It stands for Dynamic Assistive Neural Network.”

“Oh, all right,” she said. “I couldn’t hear the second N.”

“It’s a silent N,” Jett said.

“Of course,” Ariel said.

“There are microphones and speakers in every room,” Jett added. “Just say his name and tell him what you need. Think of him as a glorified butler.”

“Or Siri on steroids, as you told me earlier,” Ariel said.

“That works, too,” Jett told her, continuing down the hall.

“I’ll leave your shirt hanging on the bathroom door,” she called after him.

“No need,” he told her without looking back. “You may keep it. I have several.”

She looked at the shirt and frowned. “What am I going to do with an oversized dress shirt?”

But Jett was already gone.

Ariel sighed. She entered the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

What have I gotten myself into?