Except, she needed to do just that if she was going to lead these buskers. Wesley had taught her well what it meant to be feared, and right now the buskers were looking to Tavia to stand in his shoes as a worthy replacement. She couldn’t risk not being feared by someone like Nolan, even if it meant she had to become someone worse.

Tavia took a step toward him. “Tell us what you know about Ashwood’s plans and maybe you’ll get out of this alive.”

“You think I know anything about the Kingpin?” Nolan asked. “That’s above my pay.”

Tavia knelt down and pressed her knife to his neck. She felt the buskers around her smile, heard one lick his lips in the anticipation of a kill. They all wanted revenge for their lives being uprooted and an enemy busker was the perfect avenue for their anger.

“Tell me what you know about the Loj elixir,” Tavia said. “How did it find its way onto the streets of Rishiya? Is it anywhere else beyond here and Creije?”

Nolan laughed out a shaking breath. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Creije’s best busker afraid of a little magic? From what I’ve heard, that elixir is a one-way ticket to being on the right side of this war. It’s happiness. Ljoisi uf hemga, right? It’s a bloody suit of armor.”

Tavia’s heart screamed against her chest as her mother’s voice echoed in her ears.

Please, ciolo. You have to be strong.

The thought of the same elixir that had poisoned her muma’s mind and stolen her from the world being touted as happiness made her blood boil.

The elixir destroyed lives, long before it took minds.

Tavia pressed the tip of the knife harder against Nolan’s throat. “It strips you of your free will,” she said. “And it’s a one-way ticket to losing your sanity.”

Can’t you see them, ciolo? her mother’s memory begged. My ghosts, Tavia. Can’t you hear them screaming?

“I made a deal with your underboss,” Tavia said. “Casim promised to align with us. He told me that your comrades would be here in a few days. Was he lying? Has he been working with Ashwood this whole time?”

Nolan laughed again, and Tavia was beginning to think that it was the worst sound in the realms.

“Casim is a traitor,” Nolan said. “And he doesn’t see what’s going on right under his nose.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning that I’m not aligning myself with the losing team,” Nolan said. “You lot are going to burn. If not by the Kingpin’s hand, then you’ll get yours in the fire-gates.”

Tavia tried to hold her anger in, but it was rising to the surface quicker than she’d thought possible. “How many people in Rishiya have you sold the elixir to? Who gave it to you? Who else has it?”