I slipped through the crowd unnoticed—a skill I’d perfected over the past year. When you become something that exists between worlds, you learn to move without disturbing either one.
Finding the hunting blind was easy now that the land spoke to me, though I hardly recognized it. The pressboard was no longer alive, but it was softened by fabric panels in white and gold. As I approached, I heard familiar laughter spilling from inside.
“I still can’t believe you chose this place for the ceremony,” came Bethany’s voice, light and amused.
“Where else?” Callie replied. “This is where I fell in love with you.”
I smiled to myself and pushed aside the curtain that served as the bridal suite’s door.
They stood together in the center of the old hunting blind, both in diaphanous white gowns that captured and held thesunlight streaming through the slats. Callie was adjusting a willow crown on Bethany’s head—dried branches woven into a perfect circle. Bethany was fussing with Callie’s small bouquet of wildflowers, making sure the ribbon lay just so.
They looked up when I entered, and their faces broke into identical expressions of joy.
“Sam!” Callie rushed forward, careful not to step on her dress. She embraced me tightly, then pulled back to study my face. “God, you look amazing. I’ve missed you so much.”
“You act like it’s been forever,” I laughed. “We had a video chat last month.”
“Not the same,” she insisted, touching my hair, which had grown nearly to my waist now, wild and untamed in a way my former self would have found horrifying. “The screen doesn’t capture…whateverthisis. You’re glowing.”
If she only knew. I wondered what she would say if she saw my true form—the one Faelan had helped me embrace, the one where my pale green skin took on the texture of aloe leaves, where my hair tangled with vines and flowers, where my eyes reflected the deep viridian of forest shadows. But that revelation could wait. Today belonged to them.
“I can’t believe you made it,” Bethany said, squeezing my hands. “When we didn’t hear from you this past week...”
“I wouldn’t miss this for anything,” I said. “We just took…the scenic route.”
Now was not the time to explain that Faelan and I had traveled from the redwood forests of California, moving through root systems and underground streams, emerging each night to rest beneath different stars before sinking back into the earth with the dawn. The journey that would have taken a few hours by plane had been a slow, intimate communion with the land—one that left us both vibrating with energy.
“Well, you’re here now,” Callie said, “and that’s what matters. What do you think?” She gestured to her dress, a simple slip of fabric that seemed to float around her. “Too much? Not enough?”
“Perfect,” I said, and meant it. I reached for her small bouquet, which was already starting to wilt. “But maybe this could use a little something…”
I cupped the flowers in my hands, feeling the familiar tingle as the forest energy flowed from my center, down my arms, through my fingers. The bouquet swelled and transformed, blooms unfurling, stems lengthening, colors deepening until Callie held a lush cascade of wildflowers that looked as if they’d been gathered from an enchanted meadow.
“Oh,” Callie breathed, eyes wide. “How did you…?”
“New hobby. I’ve taken up floral arrangement.”
Before she could question me further, I turned to Bethany, whose dried willow crown was elegant, but austere.
“May I?” I asked, reaching toward her head.
She nodded, curious. I ran my fingers over the twisted branches, encouraging rather than commanding. The willow responded instantly, softening under my touch as tiny green buds appeared along the wood. Within moments, the crown had burst into bloom, delicate catkins and small leaves creating a living circlet.
Bethany’s hands flew to her head, touching the transformation with trembling fingers.
“I knew it,” she whispered. “Iknewit.”
The brides exchanged looks—equal parts bafflement and wonder—but neither pressed further. Some questions were for best kept for after the ceremony, when we could sit beneath the stars and I could confirm what they’d already suspected.
“We should get ready,” Callie said finally. “Randy will be waiting.”
“Randy?” I raised an eyebrow. “You’re havinghimofficiate?”
“He got ordained online,” Bethany explained with a small laugh. “And he’s actually...changed. You’ll see.”
As if summoned by his name, a figure appeared in the doorway. I almost didn’t recognize him. Gone was the homemade druidic robe, the unkempt beard, the air of desperate seeking. In their place stood a man in a well-made linen suit, his beard neatly trimmed, his posture relaxed but confident.
“The guests are seated,” he said, then noticed me. His eyes widened slightly. “Sam. Welcome back.”
