He grinned sharp white teeth in amused response, clearly delighted. Everything was a contest, a battle to be won, to the Coven’s most feared duelist. He was just even in height with the taller females, short for a male, at least in this age. Yet he was muscular and moved like a cat. And he was undefeated. Rumor had it that he had won every battle except for one. And that one had ended in something of a tie.

“Your husband didn’t make the journey?” he asked, eyebrows raised slightly.

“As if he’d be welcome,” Tanya said.

“I, for one, would love to see him. We could spar the nights away while you three face the Coven.”

Tanya considered his words, head tilted. “You think you would enjoy that. It seems you have forgotten the last time you fought. He continues to learn and grow. He has fought demons in Hell, and Princes of Hell on Earth. Each of those battles teaches his dark side so much that it’s hard to comprehend. You would not survive.”

“Perhaps, but assured victory has no value, no flavor. He’s the only one who’s given me a chance at loss,” he said, very sincere.

“If I recall, you weren’t far from full defeat when I interceded,” she said.

“Perhaps,” he nodded, not at all upset at her comment. “But still far enough that it was only a scent in the wind, not a taste on the tongue.”

“Who do we face tonight, Honored Fighter,” Galina asked, interrupting the polite battle of words.

“The remaining tribunal members will be drawn from the Patrons who’ve assembled for this… inquiry,” Hosokawa said. He paused, then went on without prompting. “Lison, Elisabeta, Tavian, Gault, Liu, Sun, and Tan are here, as is Atta.”

“What about Berit?” Tanya asked.

“The telepath is not here. She is… elsewhere,” Hosokawa said.

“Why so few? This is a big deal,” Tanya said.

“Actually it’s a freaking huge deal and that’s probably why the others found everywhere else to be but here,” Lydia said.

Tanya stared at her for a second before her mother spoke up. “She’s so very right, Sweet Blood. If Senka is sent down, you and Chris are next. The Coven is split.”

Tanya turned to Arashi Hosokawa. He nodded. “This is true. And not all of the Patrons here are interested in pushing this inquiry. Lison, for one, is not excited to be here, but alas, Paris is her home base.”

“How do you feel, Hosokawa-San?” Tanya asked.

“I have pledged to guard Tzao.”

“But how do you feel?”

He was very still, in the manner of old, old vampires, not a single motion in his body. Not a twitch, no breath of air, no tremor of limb. Then, without warning, he bowed at the waist, to her, to Tanya, smoothly, almost machine-like. And his bow was very, very deep.