Extra Content 02: Ezekiel's Long Night

Ezekiel looked at his mug and held it out with an exhausted sigh. "Another."

Across the counter, a dark-skinned barmaid winced. "Um, are you sure?"

"Yes." He grunted, causing her to grimace and hurry away.

The blonde couldn't blame her for the reaction. He had been going night after night to drink till closing time. Ever since Cleo, or whoever she was left for the Skadi Waters, he had been a wreck. His once cordial relationship with Alek had become incredibly toxic. And he was positive that he'd soon have to look for not only another job but a place to stay. All of this made him want to just disappear and drink away all of his sorrows. The man had lost everything, keeping him stable because of her. His grip on his mug tightened as he thought of the imposter. She had ruined his mental health and his life. It sickened him that knowing this, he still couldn't find himself hating her.

Some part of his heart pitied her. Whoever this woman was, she was lost in a world that wanted to kill her. But that didn't excuse what she had done. How she controlled his mind and pulled it apart bit by bit for her pleasure. Ezekiel struggled to cope with this. He wanted to believe that the woman he knew was still there. And that someday, he could bring her back to fix what had been done. But that woman seemed so sure of the fact that Cleo was dead. She had died in the royal prison and been replaced by someone who had her face and her memories, but not her personality. God, it made him want to shrivel up and die when he thought of the differences. That monster didn't even speak like Cleo, much less behave as she did.

He rubbed his free hand against his face as the barmaid returned. The look she had spoken for miles. She set the mug down and wrote something down on a nearby notepad. It was another addition to be added to his tab. Which had to be going into the triple digits by now. The blonde had felt his days melting into one another and only the burn of ale going down his throat helped. So, like clockwork, he accepted the mug, tipped his head in thanks, and drank. It tasted like a ginger ale that was spiked with an entire bottle of alcohol. Before this, Ezekiel hadn't been much of a drinker. Anytime he was dragged to a bar by one of the guys, he'd ask for water or tea instead. But now he was a sloppy drunk, ignoring the reality of his sorrowful situation.

The stool next to him squealed as someone sat down. A hand moved into his few and he scowled, turning to see who was there. A strange woman who was smiling met the man. She was wearing a simple dress with a twinkle in her eyes, happy to have gotten his attention. Other drunkards and down-on-their-luck laborers stared at the woman with interest. Someone like her wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near this place. This made him take a step back with his mug being put down to address her. A daintily dressed girl coming into some sweet dive bar to talk to a pathetic drunk was just out of place. His suspicion was at an all-time high as he cleared his throat.

"Do I know you?" The question was simple and to the point.

A deep laugh left her mouth as she covered it. One of her legs poked out and she pushed her foot against his inner thighs. "Do you want to?"

His eyes stayed glued to her stockings. They covered what looked to be scars on her legs. From a whip. The blonde looked up and gave her a pointed glare before speaking. "Who are you, and what do you want with me?"

"Wow, you're no fun." Her eyes became cold as she leaned to the side with her head perched in her hands. They looked worn and red. "I'm a potential employer or friend. It depends on how you take the offer I have for you."

Ezekiel felt his expression become harder as he watched her give him a playful smile. But there was no warmth in her eyes. Instead, they looked weirdly robotic, almost doll-like. Whoever this woman was, she gave him bad vibes. Not only did she stick out physically with her dress and cheerful demeanor. But her way of speaking was off-putting like she was reading off of a paper or rehearsing lines for their meeting. The man had zero interest in working for, or most likely under, her. Still, it would sit better with the blonde to dig deeper. He needed to know what his employer or colleague wanted from him. Or if they even existed, this whole thing could be a ruse to draw him into the real scheme with no way out. With this in mind, he hummed.

"Okay, what is this job you're offering me?"

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The woman slowly morphed her face into a toothy grin. "I'm happy you're interested! My employer and I need an inside job type of deal. A man who can watch our target without being suspected of anything." She moved a lock of hair from the front of her face and scrunched up her nose.

"I'm not going to spy on my boss for a measly paycheck. You must not know who I'm working for." Ezekiel could see that his response irritated her. But it was the most tame response he could give to the Ludacris offer.

By now, the people that were looking over had gone back to their drinking. Still, the blonde didn't want to talk about something so sensitive publicly. If this woman wanted him to leak information, this was risky. Anyone could be listening or overhear the wrong thing which they could misconstrue. The beaten man wondered who was behind her. They had to be smarter than this, but the offer was risky. Spying on a rich and well-connected man who married a genuine psychopath? Both of which could easily dispose of his body if needed. It made him gawk. Whatever cards they had to play needed to be better than using a hot woman as their messenger. gawk. This appeared to be on her mind as she looked off to the side to collect herself. She huffed and puffed as a million things ran across her mind.

"It's not your boss that we need you to spy on," The woman smiled a little as she revealed the true nature of her plan. "It's his unruly little daughter."

She continued with her offer. Knowing that Ezekiel was about to give her a verbal lashing for even speaking on Cleo. "I've read in the papers you two have a toxic love-hate relationship. But you have to know her true intentions and the threat she plays against numerous people in this fine nation."

"So? Do you think because Cleo has a bad relationship with me, I'll turn on her like that? What threat does she pose against the country, anyway? She isn't some war criminal like those papers tried to spin her as." The blonde was finding this entire thing ridiculous. There was no way in hell Cleo, even with the demon controlling her, was a threat to thousands of people.

"Please. That woman has been causing turmoil from the minute she got here. She didn't get so close to the throne with just her good looks." With a fierce scowl, she leaned back and crossed her arms. There was some actual disgust in her voice as she kept going. "There's talk of her being involved in numerous conspiracies related to the death of innocent citizens."

Ezekiel wanted to defend the woman and call this claim ludicrous, but he remembered the encounter with the dressmaker. Cleo had used him and his men to threaten one woman into silence. Yes, the woman in question was scum, but he only knew this secondhand from Cleo. And now that he knew the truth, it wasn’t hard to jump to the conclusion she had been lying. Every action she had done since coming back into his life was now shrouded in distrust and manipulation. So, if there was a word that she had used her power over others to terrorize the innocent, there had to be some truth in its origins. The blonde swallowed the protest had been going to make and decided to hear the stranger out. She looked invested.

“This woman is like all the other nobles - corrupt,” her manicured hand slapped against the table, getting the ire of the barmaid from earlier. “Not too long ago, a stewardess in a cabin she stayed in mysteriously died after she got off. They found poison in her system, which she’s known to use. But nobody who works on the train will say a thing about your former mistress, despite serving her for days.”

The blonde frowned. “Cleo wouldn’t be dumb enough to poison someone on a train full of people. The stewardess could have touched or drank something she didn’t recognize and killed herself.” While the dark-haired noblewoman was angry, she wasn’t very dumb. This sounded like an amateur’s work.

An eyebrow cocked upward. “I could say the same for the attempted murder of the crown prince’s bride. Cleo is a skilled toxicologist, but they caught her trying to poison someone before with ease. Who's to say this isn’t a similar situation? Not only that, but multiple people walking around spotted her and a woman who worked in the festival stated she assaulted her. You have to admit she’s dangerous.”

“Of course she is. But she isn’t a corrupt conspirator just because she’s aggressive and quiet.” Ezekiel retorted, which made the woman only more angry in her place. “If that’s the case, we’re all involved in it.”

She leaned closer to his face with her eyes accusatory. “Maybe you are involved. Do you remember going to a dressmaker by chance?” The blonde realized she was fishing for more gossip to spread.

He found himself shaking his head and setting down a wad of cash to pay his tab. The accusations he could believe if he hadn’t been a witness to how cunning Cleo could be. The blonde had heard of the tussle at the festival but only because a relative of the woman involved came to apologize after Cleo had left for the train. The elderly man was incredibly apologetic, stating that it was his fault, and the heiress had behaved rather calmly in the confrontation. So, to hear that the gossip spun it the other way around was irritating. While the man wanted to free Cleo from the imposter controlling her body, this wasn’t the right way to go about it. This conversation just further proved that getting the real Cleo back was incredibly important, more than ever before.

The man gathered his things and gave the woman an apologetic smile. “I did go to one, to help Cleo shop for her sister-in-law's wedding. It was nice talking to you but I have to go, goodbye.” The lie rolled off his tongue like butter as he turned and walked off. The woman looked irritated as he did with her hands balled into fists.