The tension strangled the air from the room. Sasha popped her head up and blinked at her two guardians, and they both stared at me hard.
"Help you make poison?" The rough edges in Grady's voice, the fiery blaze in his steel eyes, made me back up a step, clutching Sasha tighter. "That's going to help us?"
"Yes," I said firmly. "My family still needs food for the winter. That hasn't changed, but the way we were going to earn money for it has. The original poison is gone, but with your help, I can make more, or at least something that smells like moonshine. I'll add some mountain chicory since it looks like wolfsbane, or any type of purple flower, to make it look exact."
"You're talking about tricking Faust with a knock-off of what your pa usually gives him?" Grady's voice grew louder until it was practically a roar.
Sasha flinched and curled deeper into me, tucking her head into my armpit so I could no longer see.
But I stood my ground. "Yes."