Chapter 94

Marc wanted, badly, to go find this harpy and destroy her. Instead, he pulled Aldara close to his side and tucked his arm around her. "So you have no idea why you were different?"

"Geraint and I talked about it a lot. He thought that perhaps greed and vanity had been the reasons for the curse in the first place. My mother wasn't like that, so she broke the curse, not for herself but for her descendants." She took a deep breath and gave him a forced smile. "But I survived and Geraint took me in and raised me as his own. Getting thrown in the ocean and washing up on just the right island seems to be a habit with me."

"As long as this was the last time, I'm not going to complain," he said. "I'm sorry for all you've been through, blackbird, and especially about your father. Do you have any other family?" He toyed with her hand where it rested on his thigh, so small and soft against his tough hide.