Aaron had insisted on walking Cadence and Jamie down to the holding pen where Laura was being kept, despite the fact that Jamie had been down there dozens of times by himself in the last few days. Though Aaron wasn't lying when he said it wasn't a prison, it was a small room with no windows and a door that not only locked but was reinforced against the possibilities of any being--Hunter, Guardian, Vampire, or otherwise--finding a way to muscle through it. Standing outside of the room, he watched as Cadence double-checked that her Glock was loaded with the titanium bullets and then shoved it into the back of her waistband beneath her shirt.
"You sure about this?" he asked, his hand on her arm.
"Hell, yes," she replied, sweeping her long brown hair over her shoulder. "I've been looking forward to this for months."
"You don't sound like the same sweet Cadence I fell in love with," he teased.
She shook her head. "Then you're not gonna want to watch this. The bitch shot me," she reminded him. "She is responsible for this attack."
"I know," he agreed. "I'm fully aware. I just don't want you to walk out of here regretting anything, not when I can do it for you," he explained.
"I can handle it," she assured him. He already had the weight of pulling the trigger on Camilla on his shoulders. She could take care of this without his help--and she intended to.
"All right," he agreed, exhaling. "Just be cautious." He kissed her on the forehead before turning to Jamie, patting him on the arm, and disappearing back up the stairs, as Cadence had insisted.
Jamie punched some numbers into a keypad next to the door, inserted his thumb into a reader above the doorknob, and waited for confirmation that the door was unlocked before pulling it open for Cadence. She surveyed the room quickly before entering, waiting to hear the click of the lock behind her.
Laura was sitting on a bed in the far left corner of the dimly lit room. Only one single light bulb hanging from a pull chain in the middle of the room provided any sort of illumination whatsoever. Cadence could see that she was chained by her left ankle and right hand to the frame of the bed, which appeared to be welded into the concrete floor. There was what one might call an interrogation table in the middle of the room, far enough away that Laura couldn't get to it without being unshackled. There was a metal chair, and Cadence sat in it. There was also a toilet close enough to Laura that she could use it without having to be dispatched.
"What the hell do you want?" Laura asked as Cadence sat down, pushing herself away from the table with a screech.
"Laura," Cadence said calmly. "It looks like your face has begun to heal. That's disappointing."
Laura's right eye, the one that had been bothering her for months, was so swollen after Cadence's beating that she still couldn't see out of it. Her left eye still had a massive bruise beneath it, and her nose had healed crookedly. She scoffed. "Listen, Findley, I don't know anything. And if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Just like I told those other jackasses, I had no idea Sam and his shitheads were going to open fire."
Cadence folded her arms. "That's bullshit," she said quietly. "This was your plan. And you're not only going to tell me everything you know about Sam and Finn's whereabouts, you're going to admit that you orchestrated this whole idea. You're going to tell me the names of every single asshole who helped you pull it off, and you're going to do it joyfully."
Once again, Laura laughed a sharp cackle. "Shut the hell up, Findley. You don’t know shit."
Cadence gave her a moment, stared at her, crossed her legs, waited. Even in the darkness, she could clearly see Laura growing more uncomfortable. After several minutes, Cadence said, "Your uncle's a pretty smart guy, huh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Laura replied dryly.
"Titanium, mixed with silver. I wondered how he knew that would work," she continued. "Did he ever tell you how he came up with it?"
"My uncle didn't have anything to do with those titanium bullets. I already told you..."
"Huh! That's not what he said," Cadence continued. "He said that he had been doing some research on a way to level the playing field, if you will, for decades--well before your little run in with me. I thought it was odd, since he never Transformed--why would he care? Seems the problems between your family and other Hunters go back for centuries, Laura. Did you know that?"
Laura looked intimidated, but she said nothing.
"His entire career choice hinged on the fact that he had found some ancient documentation revolving around titanium's potential for turning the Ternion on its ear. I suppose you didn't know that either though, did you?"
Laura shifted on the bed. "I told you, my uncle had nothing to do with..."
"He's here, Laura. He's upstairs with your sister right now. So don't play dumb with me, bitch."
There was a flicker of panic on Laura's face for a moment before she said, "You're lying."
Cadence snickered. "You think so? Okay... doesn't matter. What matters," she said, pulling the Glock out of her waistband and setting it on the table, "is what I have in here."
The panic was back, but stronger, as Laura eyed the weapon on the table. She took a deep breath, trying not to show Cadence any fear. "You're bluffing," she replied, trying to keep her voice even.
"Am I?" Cadence asked, picking up the gun. She popped the cartridge, took out one of the titanium bullets, and held it up to the light, as if she was examining it. "Hmm, looks like titanium to me," she shrugged, putting it back into the cartridge and re-loading the weapon. "How’s about we find out?"
"You wouldn't shoot me," Laura dared her, though her expression revealed she wasn't so sure.
"I wouldn't?" Cadence asked, clicking the after-market safety off. "Why not? I mean, fair is fair. You shoot me, I shoot you.... You arrange for the murder of my best friend, get my team shot up, try to kill me and my fiancé. Yeah, I think I can shoot you. For sure."
