Water’s Edge (A Series of Sharp Edges #1)

27. Ripp

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

ripp

M attie’s jaw is still slack as she takes a seat at the table. She leans on her elbows, rubbing her brow furiously. I stare at the coffee machine for several seconds before confirming I have no fucking clue what I’m doing. I lean against the counter and wait for her, expectantly, but she’s lost in her thoughts. I drum my fingers on the countertop, hoping to catch her attention before I finally give up and clear my throat. “Mattie, you look concerned.”

“What the actual fuck? Did you not hear what you said to me?” she mumbles from under her hands, still covering her face. A dramatic groan follows her words.

“Yes, we’re killing the sheriff. Or I can, but I figured you’re owed the honors.” I shrug and move to stand behind her. My hands rub across her shoulders and she leans into my touch, even though she’s tense with annoyance.

“We can’t just kill the fucking sheriff, Ripp.” She snorts. I don’t have to see her eyes to know she’s rolling them at me. “He already suspects me. If he suddenly disappears, whose door will be the first one they come knocking on?”

“We’ll kill them too.” To me, the answer seems obvious. Even with the darkness festering inside her, Mattie still holds that flicker of light in her soul.

“The lake’s not big enough for ’em all,” she groans, collapsing her upper body onto the table. It shakes unsteadily as her weight falls onto it.

I suck my lip through my teeth and narrow my eyes knowingly as I materialize the silver tooth from her hidden, watery graveyard. Holding it between my thumb and forefinger, I lean over her. “Isn’t it?” I ask, waving the trophy in front of her eyes. “I think you have some friends who would say otherwise.”

The color drains from her face as she raises her head, staring silently at the evidence. The rise and fall of her chest picks up, and red fills in her cheeks. My eyebrow raises, taunting her into a response. She takes a few more calculated moments before she moves to snatch it, but I’m faster. I shake one finger at her, and she gives me a look that says she’s not afraid to bite that finger right off. “You shouldn’t steal from the dead,” she sneers.

“Yes, well, you probably shouldn’t kill them either, yet here we are,” I say nonchalantly. I chuckle, watching her nostrils flare. Her legs twitch under the table. W hat will your next move be, little bug?

“You can’t kill ’em again. They’re already dead,” she shouts, pushing back from the table to stand. A booming laugh bursts from me, but it’s cut short by her launching herself against my chest. She claws at me, scrambling for the tooth as I raise my arm to keep it far above her head.

“So feisty this morning. I’ll get you your coffee if you just show me how to make it,” I tease. She backs away from me, sticking one hip out. I didn’t know it was possible to stare up at someone with so much condescension, but Mattie has perfected it.

“You’ve been around for how fucking long and you can’t make a pot of coffee?” she says, rolling her eyes and heading toward the counter.

“It’s not like I need a machine to suck souls from bodies.” I emphasize the word suck, popping the ‘k.’ Mattie is suddenly intensely focused on making her coffee. Her plump ass peeks out of the small shorts she must have slipped on before following me to the kitchen. The oversized shirt she has on almost swallows her, drawing my eyes to her legs instead. They’re covered in bruises and scratches, but there’s a distinct shadowy haze to them just below the surface of her skin, like a cloud of magic is moving through her bloodstream.

I sigh, loud enough for her to turn around questioningly. “Problem?” she asks, a smirk growing at the corner of her mouth.

I shake my head. “Just growing impatient with the monotony of human routine. Time for you actually holds meaning, and we’re wasting it.”

Mattie turns to me, holding a fresh cup of coffee. The steam rises over her face, and she smiles down into the cup. “I’m sorry we’re so mundane,” she laughs lightly. “Let me put pants on at least before we go murderin’ somebody.”

You can smell the weather shifting in the air as summer fades its way to fall. A cool breeze weaves through the trees as we work our way to the river. I’m sure the sheriff will be there. It must be his favorite place to wallow in all the ways he thinks the world has wronged him. What a pathetic existence.

Mattie’s footsteps slow. I can tell she’s lost in her thoughts, walking silently alongside me. I don’t know how humans carry on as a species being constantly burdened by their limitations and bombardment of emotions. The range I’ve felt since finding her has been vexing enough. Thoughts of her have been the only thing swirling inside me since that day she unknowingly called to me. Do they really live like this all the time? No wonder their lives are short.

“When we find him,” I say, breaking the silence. “I’ll lure him in. I’ll leave the details of his demise up to you.”

“What if he’s right?” Mattie whispers, her voice shaking. I stop and grab her wrist, turning her towards me. “What if he’s right, Ripp? What if I am worse than my pa?”

My face steels, and I wonder if I’ll be able to control myself once we get to him. Her words strengthen my desire to crush him like the insect he is, knowing his words still pain her. “You, Mattie, are a goddess in this bleak world. An angel of death sent to clean up a mess you didn’t make. Anyone who tries to diminish your soul doesn’t deserve to have their own.”

Her lips frown, and she kicks at the dirt before returning my gaze. “Instead of letting my rage go, I held on to it until it burned through me. I hoped it would give me the strength to walk through the fire, not become it.”

“Nature burns itself to allow new life to grow.” I grab her other hand and pull her into my chest. “You said you killed those men, if you can even call them that, to make it safer for those like you. From what I’ve seen of humanity, I have no doubt you’ve done just that.”

She nods her head against me, and I kiss the top of it, taking in the softness of her hair. I release her, and we continue walking until I can hear the rushing water beyond the trees. A sour smell drifts through the air. He’s here, and he’s here alone. So foolish, especially after the way he ran for his life the last time. I was only toying with him then. Wait until he sees what’s coming now.

I press one finger to my lips. Mattie stares at me, waiting for our next move. “Hey!” I call, imitating Mattie’s voice. Her eyes widen in shock.

“What the fuck?” the sheriff screeches, and there’s a clatter like he’s dropped something. “Who’s there?”

“Hey!” I call again. His footsteps grow louder, his breathing heavier. The brush crashes ahead as he clumsily makes his way towards us. The scent of alcohol is ripe in the air. “I knew you’d come looking for me, you little bitch,” he grumbles.

Magic pulses through me, urging me to shift. I can’t just yet, or he’ll be lost in madness before Mattie can get her hands on him. My body vibrates with anticipation. I lick my lips, imagining what his soul will taste like.

The sheriff finally looks up, stopping just short of crashing into us. Mattie stiffens at the sight of him. Her energy shifts like he has flipped the switch to turn on her rage. His look of confusion quickly turns to anger. “Listen here…” he starts, but Mattie steps in front of me to face him head-on.

“No, Sheriff Danvers. It’s time for you to listen.” The way she says ‘you’ is chilling, causing even a being like me to shiver. I wouldn’t be surprised if the sheriff pisses his pants again. “You think I’m damaged. Another poor backwoods piece of trash that you treat like shit because you think you’re somehow above me. But damaged people are dangerous, Sheriff. We know how to survive the fires of hell and make it feel like home.”

The sheriff clears his throat, moving a step forward. He goes to speak, but Mattie stops him again. “I’m not finished.” The words come out gravelly and sharp, throwing each one at him like a dagger. “You’re weak. You try to cover it up by hurting people, by drinking until you don’t have to remember how pathetic you are. By taking a job that gives you a false sense of power and entitlement. But I see who you really are now. I’m not the one like my pa. You are.”

His eyes dart back and forth between me and her. I’m sure his brain is scrambling for some miserable response that won’t save him. His lips curl in a sneer, and he launches himself towards her. I leap out from behind Mattie, wrapping my arm around his throat. I seize him in a chokehold with his back to my chest, and he attempts to kick out with his legs, but it’s useless.

“Humans,” I growl into his ear. He whimpers, but I tighten my hold. “You’re all so fucking fragile. I’ve been watching you all for thousands of years, and it’s just the same shit over and over again. You never learn your lesson. I should squash you all like insects. Yet, suffering for one hundred years is a fate worse than death, and it would be fun to watch time slowly wither you away to nothing. However, you’ve hurt my little bug here, and I can’t allow you to continue to breathe the same air as her.”

Wild, choked laughter gurgles from him. He struggles again before slumping against me. “You think killing me will end this?” he sputters. “It’s been going on long before you were born, Mattie. Your father’s death didn’t end it, and neither will mine.”

Mattie’s eyebrows raise like she’s about to ask a question. Instead, she pulls a pocketknife from her shorts. She flicks it casually, staring at the blade and running one finger along the sharp edge. “I don’t listen to confessions from dead men,” she says then rushes towards him, driving the knife into the soft spot where his neck meets his chest.