"You can't trust anyone. Especially ronin. Ever seen wild dogs before?" His grin crept back, defiant.
"If they think you have food, they'll follow you for a while, but try to pet them and they'll go right for your throat."
(...)
"And yet," she said, "I've heard stories of wild dogs who would defend a stranger on the road to their last breath, simply because that person threw a crumb instead of a rock."
"I've never known any tanuki to have that big a scrotum."
(…)
"Through I still think the statue is all wrong." She sniffed and passed it by, wrinkling her nose. "How would one even walk with those dragging along the ground? I would think they'd get horribly chafed."
I managed not to wince as I followed her through the door, but just barely.
"I love the way samurai think," he announced, grinning. "So, you're coming with us, to make sure Kage-san stays alive, so you can kill him later." He snickered and shook his head. "Man, I can't wait to see where this goes."
"We are guests here, and I have no desire to invite bad fortune into my house by offending them."
"I guess you're right," Okame said. "Though I can usually offend by simply existing. It's a talent, I suppose."
"It seemed they weren't satisfied with starving to death while their emperor built himself a palace made of gold," Okame added behind us. "Ungrateful wretches."
The price of freedom is everything in SOLDIER, the next thrilling novel in THE TALON SAGA from the limitless imagination of Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author of THE IRON FEY series. Available April 26, 2016 from Harlequin TEEN.