When the duke left the room the next morning, he left the shackles off. Zaria sat on the edge of the bed and mouthed every insult she could think of. His conscientiousness was all an act, and she gave it a week before the man lost his patience and forced himself on her. She could see the way his eyes traveled over her body when he thought she was not paying attention.

He was a better actor than she thought he would be, though. With such a cold and aloof demeanor, and able to teach a master class in noble assholery, she couldn't have imagined that he could show such tenderness and repentance. Maybe if he had put on the act from the beginning and skipped the parts where he physically assaulted her, it might have worked.

"He really thinks I am stupid," she thought to herself and stood up to use the restroom.

Finding out that Gu Cheng left had hurt, but she had already lost him once due to her own decisions. The pain from losing him again was more because he reminded her of something good. At least if he was gone, then he was going to be alright. She hoped that he would be able to find some way to get back home. She told herself that she would look for him once she was free, just in case. He would be alright if she didn't. He was, after all, the powerful CEO Gu Cheng.

But it was her fault that he was in this world. She had to do something. The duke could not remove her pendant, but she could. She would give it to Gu Cheng so that he could return to his own world, eventually.

Zaria pulled the curtains open, fingering the tassled tie backs that hung from a hook on the wall next to each window. She had never really understood why someone would use them, except to look pretty. Her grandmother had hung big, ornate tapestry like drapes in her formal 'living room' and she used chocolate colored cords with big tassels just like the ones in the duke's bedroom because she thought that the curve of the drapes when they were pulled and tied back was classy. Zaria just thought that they were a hassle to deal with, so she refused to use them. The duke never complained, so she didn't care.

The trunk with the 'women things' was gone. Probably set on fire somewhere, knowing his grace's temper. She doubted he had thought that anything in it could be used to help her escape, but the fabric had made a very nice bondage item for the guard. Zaria wandered around the room, but in addition to the trunk just about anything that could be used as a weapon or prove helpful while fleeing was removed. There was furniture, but even the chairs were very heavy. She knew that until she was back up to full strength there was no chance that she could lift one to hit someone with it.

Whenever she got hungry, she cracked the door open and asked the stern looking guard outside to have something brought up. There was no cutlery on the trays that arrived, thin bowls holding soup and hunks of bread. She considered breaking the bowls or the glasses of water to make a weapon out of a jagged piece , but if the guard did not notice that the soup bowl was missing he would be an idiot and she didn't think that was a good thing to count on.

There was nothing to do other than sit at the window and watch the rain or make more rounds of the room in case she missed something. She did both as she waited for the night to fall, when the duke would return and it would be time to sleep again. He entered with the same pained expression, his fingers lightly touching the bandages around his neck as he went into the bathroom.

Zaria did not roll her eyes in case he looked back and did not follow to make his bath for him. Soon, the running water could be heard through the door. He did it again without her help. For the second night ever, he came out in his bathrobe to get his sleepwear and went back into the bathroom to change. Zaria blinked insults at his act and went back to the bed to wait for him.

The duke did not speak when he came out. He sat against the headboard and picked up his book to read.

Zaria was just thinking that he probably couldn't think of anything else placating to say to her after he used up all of his lines the night before, when she heard popping noises coming from within the wing that they were currently in. Her eyes opened wide in shock. What person growing up in a town full of hunters couldn't recognize the report of a gun? When the sound came again from somewhere much closer, she looked at the duke to see if he recognized the noise. Just because she had never seen a gun in the manor didn't mean they didn't have them.

"What was that?" she asked, trying to infuse a little bit of fear into her voice.

"I don't know," he answered with a frown. He got up from the bed, and Zaria scrambled after him.

"Wait here." When she didn't move, his gaze grew cold, and she hurried toward the window to get back. He turned back to the door and walked forward to open it. As soon as the door opened, there was another popping noise just outside.

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Crossing her fingers that she was not wrong, Zaria grabbed a curtain tie- back and ran toward the duke. She kicked behind his knees, and as he fell, the long braided cord was wrapped around his neck from behind. Zaria threw herself against him so that he fell forward and drove her knee between his shoulder blades as she crossed the cord in front of her and yanked her arms apart, pulling as hard as she could on the cable.

Surprise was on her side, the nobleman had no clue that she would try to physically assault him in such a way and later she would wonder if he was able to think at all beyond panic as the air to his lungs ceased. She knew when he did it to her that she hadn't been able to think. There was just an animalistic fear driving her attempts to get away.

There was another pop, much louder than any of the others, and she felt moisture splatter across her. Beneath her knee, the duke was scraping at the cable, lightning and black tendrils surrounding his body as he tried to get free so that he could breathe. The magic did nothing, disappearing as it touched her. His struggles grew weaker, fingers weakly scraping at the cord, and then falling to the ground. Zaria gritted her teeth and kept pulling, counting to ten, not willing to take the chance that it was an act. She finally let go, dropping the curtain tie and standing up shakily.

Movement to the side pulled her gaze over, and she saw Gu Cheng coming slowly toward her, a pistol by his side and pointed downward, one hand up in a calming gesture. She looked over, noticing the guard laying dead where he fell sideways after welcoming a bullet with his head. She grimaced when she realized what the wetness was on her face.

Zaria turned back into the room and made it to the bathroom sink before she threw up. Her stomach heaved, and she kept her head down until nothing more came out. Then, she cleaned the blood off her face and rinsed out her mouth. There was another pop from very close by, just outside the bedroom, and then she heard footsteps approaching.

"You came back." She stated. He looked at her with confusion. His body stood half in the bedroom still, with his weapon pointing toward the hallway.

"I didn't leave. I finally escaped from the cell they had you in and immediately fought my way here. Where it turns out that you didn't need me."

"Oh," she turned and walked back into the bedroom. "He said that he set you free last night because you threatened his life if he didn't let you leave."

Gu Cheng followed her hesitantly, going to the bedroom door and training his gun down toward the corridor intersection. "I wouldn't have left you, Joseph Zaria."

Zaria pulled a jacket out from the duke's wardrobe and stuck her arms inside. She didn't want to wear his things, but she was cold and she had nothing else to wear. "It's okay. It makes sense. You got yanked into this world and then tortured because of me, I was relieved that you -"

Her words cut off with a yelp as she felt her body jerked to the side, and an arm held her tight to his chest.

"I would never leave you, Joseph Zaria." He whispered into her hair. "I came here to find you, and I am not leaving without you."

Zaria let him hold her and speak, feeling guilty about everything he had been through. When he seemed like he was not going to say anything else, she gently pushed him away and walked out into the hall, stepping over the spreading pool of blood beneath the body of the Duke of Berber. She spared it only one glance, looking away quickly from the messy new hole in the side of his head. She made it several steps before she paused, fighting to control the breaths that wanted to come out far too quickly. Pushing Gu Cheng to the side, she walked back to the body and kicked her foot out with a forceful exhale. After hopping on her other foot a few times, she put the kicking foot down and walked back toward Gu Cheng with a wince.

"Where are your shoes?"

"Probably back in my tent, wherever that is. He didn't let me put them on when he drug me out of there. If he gave me new ones, I would run away." She laughed mirthlessly. "Moron, I would have gotten away completely naked if that was the only way I could have done it. Having no shoes was not going to stop me."

Gu Cheng hurried in front of her, pistol at his side and pointing down. Zaria watched him in confusion as he crouched down in front of her. "What are you doing?" She asked, stepping around him and avoiding his outstretched hand.

"Get on my back. You can't be walking around barefoot. You could get hurt."

Zaria called back without turning around. "I'm fine."

Ever so often, Zaria would have to step around or over a body sprawled across the path she was taking to get out. There were no servants in the halls, and she wondered if they were all cowering behind closed doors. It was alright. They could cower wherever they wanted to as long as it was not in her way.

"Why do these people not have electricity? Is this some kind of cult compound? I can't even figure out what area of France we are in."

"France? What makes you think we are in France?" It was a thought she had not considered, what area of the world she was in. From the South West of Canada to Central United States to somewhere near China, she had not ended up in the same place either of her two previous trips, no reason to think this one couldn't be in Europe.

"Because you were all speaking French?" Gu Cheng eyed the back of her head, knowing they had to keep moving but wishing she would slow down and look at him while they talked.

"Huh. You speak French? I didn't know that." Zaria turned into the only staircase she knew how to get to, the narrow servant's staircase at the back of the building. The stairs were cold against her feet, and she shivered inside of the suit jacket. The material smelled like that man, and she was considering just dumping it and being cold. "That is pretty cool. I always meant to learn."

"You..." Gu Cheng frowned and followed her. Nothing was making sense, and he hated the feeling of not understanding something.