Witches' Waves by Teresa Noelle Roberts

the ocean.
    Then she realized her breath and Kyle’s also matched the rhythm of the waves.
    They’d said she had an affinity to water, and Kyle was a creature of the ocean. Assuming Deck was using his water magic, it made sense it would affect both her and Kyle.
    She wondered if it was supposed to affect her on the level she was feeling, more intimate than her entire past experience, except for Kyle’s kisses and those few moments after yielding herself to the ocean’s power before she’d drifted into unconsciousness. She stirred, restless, aroused, yet content. Kyle was hard against her, reacting either to the magic or to her arousal. Maybe both.
    The sound of the sea grew louder as Deck chanted. The moist Oregon air felt even damper, but in a good way. Fecund, not rainy.
    When Elissa incanted, Meaghan swore the bed of herbs she lay on was actually growing underneath her in response to Elissa’s voice. The air turned warmer. It was technically summer, late June, but for the first time it felt almost hot instead of cool and damp.
    All the witches were chanting together. She felt the magic weaving, braiding. She thought that if she could see, an elaborate, multicolored knotwork would actually be visible. The air shivered with power. Meaghan’s head swam, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
    The weaving voices dropped in volume, but continued as a buzzing background. Meaghan heard the soft brush of someone stepping closer. From the spicy heat, it was Elissa. “We have gathered,” Elissa said, “to cast out what does not belong, what lingers against nature in this world. Shaw, you are dead. Chenier, the last vestiges of you have left this world and your fae rider is banished. Your magics have no power here. Meaghan is free from your influence. Begone.”
    Meaghan’s head twinged and her gut twisted.
    Panic pressed down on her, heavy and leaden. She could scarcely breathe. Memories of Shaw swirled in her head, memories that simultaneously repulsed and warmed her.
    Her thoughts didn’t make sense. Was this the latent spell fighting back? Elissa had helped kill Shaw, Elissa and Jude and the other dual, Rafe, the dual who buzzed with magic even though duals weren’t supposed to have magic. They were all trying to help her, and she knew Shaw had done terrible things, and it was whispered he’d been possessed. But knowing they’d killed him made it hard to trust fully, hard to open to these people.
    She still dreamed of Shaw. Still dreamed of his hard, harsh hands on her body, his cock in her. Still dreamed of the way he’d hold her when she’d go into seizures after she came. He’d been using her. She knew that. But he’d also been one of the few people who’d touched her for anything other than medical purposes. One of the few who seemed to care for her. And these people, these witches, had killed him. However kind they seemed, they’d killed Shaw. Now they wanted to remove her last link to him.
    But she wanted it gone. She knew she did. She’d asked for their help.
    Something exploded in her head. Her usual darkness tinged with the blood hue that was the only color in her visions and nightmares, the only color in her life. Pain stabbed near her heart. Maybe they were actually cutting the magic out. They’d said the ritual wouldn’t harm her, but maybe they’d realized the only way to free her from the Agency’s influence was to kill her too.
    That would have been all right a few days ago. But now she’d tasted freedom. Tasted kisses from someone who wasn’t using her. She’d tasted real life, life away from the Agency, and she wasn’t going to lose it. Maybe it was selfish, but she didn’t want to die. She struggled against Kyle’s arms, which had felt like a shelter only seconds before, but now felt like a prison. “No!” she screamed.
    But the scream sounded alien. Sounded furious rather than