His gaze swept past Quinlan, pausing on each of his non-human girls.
Kitsara. Blossom. Seraphiel.
"Even your women… whom you treat as partners. Equals. Cherished companions."
"They wear collars because they are nothing more than playthings. They are not considered people under my law. They are livestock, because my ancestors and I decided it would be so."
"You think a man like me cares about a promise?"
"You think a man like me would flinch from blood, after building his empire on a continent of it?"
The weight in the air swelled even further.
Then it twisted.
"Felicity? You think her thoughts of my person matter in the grand scheme of things?"
His voice became sharper than ever before.
"Four of my five children already hate me."
