Robarte took a seat in front of her, the smile that looked kind could have fooled any person who met him for the first time. Pushing his glasses up his nose, he asked,
"You told you wanted to talk to me," he said diving into the topic.
Penny nodded her head, placing the glass next to her on the stand, she said, "I wanted to ask if you have seen or heard anything from Grace," she didn't know why she didn't remember it before stepping into this house but now that she thought about it, she came to remember Grace speaking about him of how she was going to make her and Robarte meet each other the day she had dragged her by a collar to the Isle Valley.
"Grace Quinn?" a questionable look passed the man's face as if he had no clue about her at all, "I don't know. I don't think I have heard from her for a very long time now. Is everything alright?" he asked her with a concerned look.
She could tell that her acting skills came from her mother's side now.
"She hasn't returned home for almost four days now and all of us are getting worried about where she went. We went to meet people who she was acquainted with but so far we haven't heard anything from anyone. I recollected this evening when I was passing by that she had once mentioned about you, of how handsome of a person you are and that she had tea with you."
Even with the scarce light where Penny's eyes had finally adjusted in the darkness, she could tell that Robarte was surprised that it was what Grace had told her which in reality didn't happen. All Penny knew was that Grace knew Robarte. She couldn't believe that little detail had slipped past her mind. Maybe it was because of what she had gone through that day, the shame with humiliation along with the pain of being beaten and dragged on the streets had made her forget this piece of information from her mind.
If she wasn't wrong, Grace had decided to give her away to Robarte.
Robarte chuckled, trying to be humble he said, "Well, we did have tea together and often met up in soirees. I invited her here and we have had the time to talk but I don't think I entertained the girl after that."
"Why not?"
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"I think she was coming too strong on me. No offense but sometimes she would complain a lot. I know I shouldn't tell this but she used to complain about you to me and her brother and the rest of the family all the time. Families are supposed to stick together," Robarte said to her.
What a hypocrite, thought Penny to herself.
"Yes, a family should stick to each other. A shame that some people don't follow it and decide to stab their very own blood, isn't it?" Penny said to see him nod, but she could tell his eyes were calculating her and the words she just spoke. A fight between them was inevitable and it would happen before the time of dawn, she was merely buying time but his presence was making her skin crawl.
"Indeed you are right. I mean I know you are a good girl. She must have been very hard on you by bad-mouthing you."
"Not at all," she denied, not needing his pity, "My father taught me to fight back and not to bow down if I am not wrong."
"Your father?" Robarte questioned.
She gave him a nod, "We all have fathers, don't we?" he didn't respond to this, and Penny shifted the conversation back, "Do you know where she might be?"
"I wish I could help you but unfortunately, I don't know," he replied without cracking the facade that he wore.
"I am sure you must know where my mother is," this had him quickly chuckle.
"Why do you think so?" his red eyes peered at her through his clean glasses, he continued to chuckle before it came to an abrupt halt, "It seems like Miss Penelope knows more than she intended to know," he then sighed, "Well I am glad that we have cleared the air, we can finally have some family reunion."
"I cannot say I am excited and looking forward to it," Penny responded back to his words and saw him smile to showcase the fangs.
"Don't worry, you will enjoy it as much we do."
Out of nowhere, a knife flew at her and she had to jump and roll away from the ground when another two knives followed the first one, "You are quite fast. Was it that pureblooded vampire who taught you?"
Penny pulled out her own gun, and she didn't hold back in pulling the trigger while aiming at him to see him dodge it, "Why do you care?" she asked him.
"I actually do. When I received the information about you being sold in the market, I was there but unfortunately the pureblooded vampire raised the bar of money high enough that I couldn't buy you."
"Must be very difficult to be living in the line of poverty while trying to show off that you are a normal vampire to blend in. Pitty," she stated taking another shot at him and he continued to pull one knife after another that whistled in the air before it fell or got stuck on the walls.
Suddenly out of nowhere, Penny felt her legs being pulled by the emerging creepers that started to circle her legs and also going to her hands.
"I heard from your mother that she turned you to an obedient child but you have your mouth of your own," he started to walk towards her while Penny tried to get away from the creepers.
"Because it belongs to me and you should know. Your sister does nothing but lies," when she smiled, Robarte gave her a confused look and his head snapped to look behind where Piers stood with the gun and the black witcher started to shoot Robarte who dodged all around the room and jumped out of the window.