Amalie had been forced by Night Von Sorrow to pretend she was Angel's mother when his father had sneaked him among humans in Lohr to study them and locate the Karnsteins. Angel loved her dearly, for she understood his love for humans and his wish to emerge from the depths of hell to become a good man. I spent all day listening to her, but then it was time for her to face me with the dark truth about my love for Angel.
"Can I ask you how much you love Angel?" she said. "I don't want some poetic answer filled with descriptions and metaphors. I want a realization, deep down in your heart"—she pointed at hers—"that it is an inevitable truth, that you love Angel Von Sorrow."
"You mean like 'until death do us apart'?" I asked, already blushing, because the buzzing in my heart had never been logical or explainable.
"Not even death," she said. "It can't tear you apart."
I said nothing, only stared at her.
"You know he might be immortal, don't you?"
"He had talked about it, but he isn't sure," I said. "Because he is still a half-vampire. Only vampires are immortal. If he could ever find a cure to become all human, he certainly won't be immortal anymore."
"You're right, Angel might not be immortal yet," Amalie said. "The thing that he doesn't know yet is that True Love, if that is possible, grants his kind immortality, even if he is still a half-vampire."
I was supposed to shriek, but no sound came from my chest. Maybe I'd taken the impact of the information inside me. The idea of the one I loved living forever left me undone. I didn't know whether it was good or bad. After all, I wasn't an immortal, and didn't know if I wanted him to spend his eternal life without me. I was curious about one thing, though. "True Love?" I cocked my head. "How do we know it's True Love, Amalie? What does True Love even mean?"
Amalie sipped her tea and shook her shoulders. "Who knows what True Love really is? They call it Adage in our world of Sorrow. A simple word of infinite unconditional love, not just for a love interest but for a child or a god."
"Adage." I couldn't stop myself from repeating the world whenever I heard or thought about it. "Then why are you asking me about my love for Angel? I don't suppose it's the immortality issue by itself."
"Of course not," she said. "The situation both of you are in is like this: you're hunted by two families, whether good or bad, it doesn't matter, because evil is only a point of view." She held my hands. "If you both insist on being together, there is no place on earth you can escape to. If not from the Karnsteins, then never from Night Von Sorrow. Wherever you go, he will eventually find both of you."
"Are you suggesting I leave Angel?"
"No," she said. "Hold back your young and impulsive heart for a moment. Give reason a try, and listen to me."
I nodded, feeling the warmth and kindness of her hands.
"If you both are up to what it takes when it comes to love, there is one escape from Night Von Sorrow," she explained. "It's not quite in our realm."
"I don't understand."
Amalie sighed, and I worried. "The only place to escape the vampire king is in 'other worlds'—some like to call it 'Fairyworld,' but I don't know why. They are partially intertwined with ours but separate. Magical worlds, unlike anything we have ever seen, beyond a vampire's sight and reach."
"I don't mind at all, as long as I am with Angel," I said, not quite comprehending. But as long as a solution was available, I was into it.
"Good." She pulled back her hands and took a deep breath. "I'm only offering you this because you can't live in Murano, the only place where vampires are afraid to venture. Because of the glasswork we produce, they have to stay away, as fully turned vampires will burn if exposed to their reflection in mirrors long enough. Murano should have been a great escape for you, but considering your curse, you can't live here either. Also, we don't know where Angel stands with mirrors now. Some days he can't stare at them, and some he can, so it makes us wonder what his situation will be in the future."
"Not being able to stare at mirrors, it's as if I'm a vampire myself," I murmured, wondering why I shared such a trait with them. Why had the nameless witch ever done this to me?
Amalie looked at me and said nothing. The notion of me sharing a serious trait with vampires bothered her a little. But she knew, like me, that I wasn't a vampire. Or did she?
"Come with me." She took my hand again and stood up.
"Where to?" I asked.
"I want you to meet a girl who can help you and Angel escape to another realm where you can create your own kingdom and hopefully live happily ever after."
"Happily ever after," I murmured. I liked the sound of it. No fairy tales had been told then, so it was an expression I had never heard before. "Who is this girl?"
"A very special one." Amalie sighed again. "She is about fourteen, and a bit different to all of us. In fact, you would never think she is special when you see her. I think the Creator of All Creators wanted her like that. We know very little of her. It's rumored that she is immortal, in her own way, as she can always rise up from the ashes again if she dies, but don't ever ask her or confront her about it." Amalie stopped and raised a finger.
"Who is she?" I was curious now about the girl.
"A glassblower, one of the best of those who have mastered what we call the Art," Amalie said. "Her name is Cinder."