Chapter Text
Temperance Hudson had never thought much of soulmates. They had their advantages of course. Having your soulmate beside you made you stronger, aided with rituals. But Temperance had always been strong enough, always been capable of everything she needed she didn’t need anyone by her side to distract her or lead her from her own goals. So she’d never bothered to look for hers. And then she’d felt the twinge.
Just a twinge. Occasionally painful. But nothing more than a twinge. Until it wasn’t. Soon it was a tug and then a pull, growing as the magic she had used to rejuvenate herself took hold completely. Nancy's blood – that was the cause. The twinge had started after she had used some of Nancy’s blood. It had worried Temperance at first. Such a ritual came with risks. You took a part of a person inside yourself and along with that came all the curses and supernatural powers linked to the blood. But she’d been careful. She’d cleansed the blood. The only supernatural power that should remain was that which was beneficial.
And yet the pull remained and with it were painful jolts, a tightening of her chest like someone was crushing her heart. She felt weak.
It took her a week to determine that the pull was from a soulmate. Temperance supposed she should have known Nancy would have found her soulmate. That girl did seem very good at finding lost things. And, since she had met her soulmate, there would always be that pull as their souls fought to be close. From the moment soulmates met, their beings were magnetised, constantly pulling towards each other.
So Temperance knew she must have met Nancy’s soulmate too.
What concerned her more was the pain although she believed she could work out the cause. Nancy and her soulmate were bound, their souls joined. Temperance’s soul, through Nancy’s blood, was now bound to a soul that didn’t need it or want it. The pain, the weakness, was the rejection of Nancy’s soulmate as their bond with Nancy echoed across the town.
Temperance collected up the tomes she had gathered around her, looking through each leather-bound volume until she found writings on soulmates. There were ways she could sever the connection, hack at that weak part of her until Nancy’s soulmate meant nothing to her. No one would ever know of the bond she had…
The thought made her chest ache. She knew it was a weakness of a new kind, a longing. For the first time, she had a soulmate. And those feelings, feelings of affection, still existed inside of her, even if the bond was one that she had stolen in a way. She had to at least see them. And then she could sever the connection and think nothing more of it.
Temperance followed the pull in her chest, the longing that filled her. She was not surprised when it led her to the Claw. She knew Nancy worked there. She knew Nancy’s friends worked there too. She lingered nearby, trying to work out how she was to enter the restaurant without putting her schemes at risk. And then she felt the pull moving, shifting slightly.
As though in a daze, she heard to the back of the restaurant.
A young man in a shirt, backwards baseball cap and apron was dropping bin bags into a large industrial waste bin. She knew his name. He had introduced himself when he and the others had battled to free Nancy from the wraith.
Ace.
She should have known. She could remember the way he had looked at Nancy, the way Nancy had looked at him in return.
The tug in her chest subsided slightly and she watched him from the shadows, aided by the darkening night. He was handsome and so clearly devoted to Nancy. Despite herself, Temperance felt the urge to approach him, talk to him, touch him. He shut the bins, going to head back inside. He stopped when his phone rang. He answered the call, speaking to his mother. She needed help with something, something technical. Temperance listened to the patience in his tone, the eventual promise that he would examine the computer himself when he made it home from work.
The longing rose in Temperance’s chest again, no longer painful and desperate. But inviting, like she had dipped a toe into a warm bath or taken the first bites of a delicious meal.
She heard the door to the back of the restaurant open and her eyes snapped over. Nancy stood in the doorway. Ace smiled at her, ending his call.
The ache was back. Just seeing the two of them together made her feel weaker. Because Ace’s soul was once again calling out for Nancy’s and not hers. Temperance loathed the young woman. She hated every fibre of her for leaving her with such a curse.
“I thought you were taking out the trash,” Nancy called from the doorway.
“I just did,” Ace replied.
“Then you missed one.”
Ace made his way toward the door but Nancy had already picked up the bag from where she had concealed it just inside the restaurant. She handed it to him with a triumphant smile. She followed him over to the bin, the two chatting casually all the way. Temperance noted Ace was having girlfriend trouble – no wonder. His girlfriend was not his soulmate. All other relationships were doomed.
She watched the two of them head back inside, still talking, walking almost in step. The pain didn’t subside even as the door shut behind them.
Back in the terrible hotel room Temperance had gotten for herself in Horseshoe Bay, she prepared to sever the link. It would be painful, yes, but not dangerous. And she would be free from the pain of having an unrequited soulmate. And yet, even as she sat there, books spread out before her, all that she needed for the ritual already gathered, she found herself toying with an idea. Why should it be only she who knew such pain? Why not Nancy? Such pain, such weakness, was sure to be enough to keep Nancy’s meddling at bay as Temperance fulfilled her plans. And then… Then Ace would be hers.
The idea sparkled in her mind like a diamond and she closed her eyes to imagine how perfect it would all be. Not only to take revenge on those who had cast her out but to take a prize for herself. A little reward for all her hard work...
She turned the page, wondering if what she imagined was even possible. Yes, it was. With her bond to him, with her magic, she could make Ace feel the way she felt about him, sever the ties that bound him to Nancy. She could do it whether he was willing or not.
She sat back, a triumphant smile playing over her lips. Oh, she was going to enjoy this.