Sorry I kept you waiting so long, said Mom in my head.

“I thought… maybe you weren’t coming back,” I said, unable to hide either my relief or my disappointment.

I haven’t yet, Mom replied, but if you pull me through, we can talk face to face.

I reached out a hand, felt her grasp it, pulled, and she appeared next to my bed from a rainbow-colored warp in the air: Dierdre of Amber. She wasn’t dressed for combat, as the last time I’d seen her, but rather in traveling clothes that would go largely unnoticed almost anywhere on Earth. Her black hair was still short and upswept, so shiny it almost appeared lacquered.

She held my hand for several seconds, squeezing, then touched my cheek. “Skyler, I’m so happy to see you.” And then we were hugging, and I tried my hardest not to cry, but damn it—_you_ try living seventy years without your mother, no idea what happened to her, and no way to get back home.

“What kept you?” I asked, still holding to her.

“Death.”