“Yes,” Kris answered forthrightly. “What did you expect ? We’re neither one of us made of ice.” He figured that it was far better for Dirk to hear the truth—and to hear it in such a way that he took it for the matter-of-fact thing that it was. Talia and Dirk were probably tied neck-and-neck for the position of his “best friend.” And that was all he and Talia meant to each other. He could no more conceive of being in love with her than with the close friend he now faced. He watched Dirk covertly, weighing his reaction.

“I—I suppose it was sort of inevitable—”

“Inevitable—something more. Frankly, during that first winter it was too blamed cold to sleep alone.” He launched into the whole tale of their blizzard-ordeal—with editing. He didn’t dare reveal how Talia’s Gift had gotten out of control. Firstly, it wasn’t anything Dirk needed to know about. Secondly, he was fairly certain it was something that should be known by as few as possible. Elcarth and Kyril, certainly—but he was pretty well certain it just wouldn’t be ethical to go around telling anyone else without Talia’s express permission.

He concluded the tale with a certain puzzlement; Dirk seemed to have suddenly gone dumb, and very soon pled exhaustion and left for his own room.

Oh, Lord. Of all the damned situations to be in—his very best friend in the entire world with his hooks quite firmly in the first woman Dirk had even wanted to look at in years.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t any damned fair. No woman in her right mind was even going to want to look at him with Kris around. And Kris

Kris—was he in love with Talia? And if he were . . .

Gods, gods, they certainly belonged together.

No, dammit! Kris could have any female he wanted, Herald or no, without even lifting a finger! By all the gods, Dirk was going to fight him for this one!

Except that he hadn’t the faintest idea how to go about fighting for her. And—Kris was like a brother, more than a brother. This wasn’t any kind of fair to him—

He lay sleepless for hours that night, staring into the darkness, tossing and turning restlessly, and cursing the nightjar that was apparently singing right outside his window. By dawn he was no closer to sorting out his own feelings than he had been when he threw himself down to rest.

Two

Two

"Talia!”