My eyes locked on the source: three tall women striding up in perfect synchrony. One I remembered from the simulation, but I hadn’t realized she was a triplet. They were siren triplets.
Tibby stiffened as he noticed them.
They were identical.
All three had blonde hair worn in three distinct styles. Coralynn, the siren from the simulation, had hers long and sleek. Another wore a sharp, fashionable bob. The other’s was a halo of soft curls. They had piercing blue eyes that shimmered unnaturally in the light and heart-shaped faces. Though they wore identical short white dresses, their postures made them wildly different: Cora had a confident glide, the one with the bob had a sharp analytical gaze, and the one with curls had the grace of a hunter. Their arms were littered with fine scars. They looked like faint white lines from claws.
Coralynn gasped, locking eyes with Tibby. “Hi! I’m Coralynn, but I like being called Cora. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Tobias,” he offered his name to her with a long blink.
“That’s a man,” the siren with the bob whispered, her eyes narrowing in assessment. “Hi, I’m Sylverlynn, but I go by Sylver.”
“He’s so hot,” the one with curls said dreamily. “Can we keep him?”
Tibby paled. “Are you talking about me?”
“Of course,” Cora said sweetly, fluttering her lashes.
“I’m Nymerlynn, but I go by Nym.” The one with the curly hair grinned wickedly.
“Who else would we be talking about?” Sylver whispered, biting back a smile of her own.
“I, uh, I’m flattered,” Tibby said quickly, taking a step back.
“Not yet, you aren’t,” Nym purred.
I covered my mouth to stifle a snort. My brother had never been rendered quite so silent before. “That’s my brother, and be careful. He’s a bit of a player.”
Nym grinned, flashing her sharp teeth at me. “He won’t be for long.”
“We’ll train him well,” Sylver promised.
“Have fun trying.” I shrugged.
The triplets seemed interesting enough. I narrowed my gaze at Tibby and raised a brow to see if he wanted me to intervene.
He shook his head and grinned at me. “Good luck with that, pretty sirens.”
“He thinks we’re pretty,” Cora gushed to her sisters.
“Wearepretty.” Nym scoffed.
Zuko leaned close to me again. “This is so much better than our evening sparring. Do you think the triplets bite?”
“Yes,” I answered automatically. Sirens had sharp teeth for a reason. “And Tibby’s about to find out the hard way.”
“Fates help your brother,” Eleanor murmured beside me, eyes wide. “Never seen sirens so keen on someone they just met.”
Aura covered her grimace with her hand. “Your brother is going to be the most aggressively courted man on campus.”
“I’m cheering for him,” Slater said, encouragingly. “Go, big bro!”
Tibby frowned at Slater. “You are not mated to my sister, so I am not your brother.”
“Yet,” Slater said again, shaking his hand back and forth in dismissal. “It’ll happen. Why fight it?”
“Hate to break up brotherly bonding, but would you mind showing us around campus?” Cora wrapped a possessive arm through his and smiled like she already owned him.
