Page 107 of A Second Chance for the Beta

“This has to be it,” Charlie mutters.

“I think so too,” I say, turning my head when I hear a knock against our door.

Come in,I link Stella.We are in Charlie’s room. You can’t miss us.

Not even a minute later, Stella’s fiery red hair appears at the door frame. “Beta Dante, you found something!?” she asks.

“Yes, we were looking for hints from Candy and from Charlie’s inheritance. We found this music box, but I think it’s enchanted.”

Stella hurries to our side and kneels down next to us. “May I?” she asks.

I nod and Charlie hands her the item. Stella inspects it closely, her gaze curious. “Not a witch spell,” she says. “But I have seen something like this before. It’s probably…” she pauses. “I can only guess now, Beta. For everything else I’d need to examine it in my laboratory.”

“We’ll take a guess for now,” I say. Stella would need to examine it for days properly, and we don’t have the time.

“It looks like a blood spell,” she says. “I can only take a wild guess and say that Candance wanted to make sure no one could open the box, no one but her daughter. She might also have wanted to prevent it from being opened too early. We don’t know what’s inside, but chances are high it could be something a child shouldn’t grasp.”

“But Charlie was a newborn back then. How could she…” I pause. “No, wait, Candy used her own blood.”

“Pretty sure she did,” Stella says. “And if she did, she had help.”

To my surprise, Charlie snatches the item from Stella before biting down on her own index finger. Little drops of blood drip down. She does it with so much ease that it makes it even more obvious that there are some vampire genes in her. “DNA,” she says. “She was my mom. And she knew I would be half vampire. She knew…”

She presses her finger onto the spot. For a moment nothing happens, and I have to suppress a frustrated groan. Maybe Charlie isn’t old enough to open it. Maybe we need someone else’s blood. Stella’s right. Whatever is in there could have probably been too dangerous for a child to face.

“Uncle Dante,” Charlie whispers. “It’s moving!”

“It worked,” Stella says, sounding shocked. She smiles happily. “Yes! I was right!”

“Good job, Stella,” I say.

Charlie hands me the box. “Can you open it, please,” she mutters. “I’m scared there is nothing inside. Or what’s inside is ruined.”

“I got you,” I say softly and open the lid. “A letter,” I mutter, turning it between my hands. “It says ‘Charlotte.’ It is for you.” I hand it to her, my eyes catching yet another item. A necklace is hidden beneath everything. It’s the same necklace Ella has. It has an amulet attached to it like Ella’s. When I take it into my hands, I notice that this one, however, is open… the amulet is open.

“We can open it,” I say. “The necklace! We can open Ella’s too. This has to be what they are looking for.”

thirty-four

Juli

*ELLA*

Iwakeupearlythe next day, deciding to get in touch with my family. I open my notebook and the messenger app to contact one of them. I know Dante is going to talk to Charlie today, so I want to give them some privacy. Before I can reach out to Liam, a new window pops up.

Finally, you switched on the notebook,the message says.I’m Dalila.

Oh, Dalila! Sorry, I didn’t know you were waiting.

Waiting is the wrong word ^_^ I just had a signal appear once you switched it on so I can contact you immediately.

So, you hacked the notebook?

Yes, that way we can chat without anyone tracing us.I will archive what we talk about, but everything will be deleted on your side after ten minutes. Alpha Liam is giving me all the information I need. It’s safer for you to talk to me instead of the others.

How do I know it’s really you?

Good question. That’s why you are a beta.I watch her typing.Ask me anything.