Chapter 43

Only when the sharp pain in her ankle eased could Elise spare a thought for the people in front of her.

Three figures were crouching around her. Dylan and the others had been farther away; they were only now running over.

For once, Julian wasn't in a suit. His casual clothes made him look less stern, less forbidding, though there was still something unmistakably refined about the way he moved. His attention was fixed on her ankle. He reached for it slowly, touching it with extraordinary care, and relaxed a little when he could find no sign of a broken bone.

Adrian had covered himself more thoroughly than ever today. A hooded sweatshirt, a cap, sunglasses, a mask: he'd scarcely left any of his head exposed. Now he was too worried to care about his disguise. He'd pulled off his mask and glasses, and sweat beaded on his forehead as he leaned toward her.

“Ellie, does it hurt?” he asked softly.

Miles glanced at his two brothers without looking remotely surprised to see them. With one examining her injury and the other trying to comfort her, he stayed back. Then he looked to the side.

The girl who'd pushed Elise seemed ready to go on running.

His expression hardened. He stepped into her path.

“You push someone over and think you can just run off?”

She was considerably smaller than him. Faced with that furious look, her mouth trembled.

“I really didn't mean to... I just did it without thinking...”

Dylan and the others arrived in time to see Miles looking as though he was about to hit someone. They caught his arms.

“What happened?”

“She pushed Ellie,” he said coldly.

Even with a girl in front of him, he could barely contain his anger. His sister had been running perfectly well until that shove. Maybe the girl had simply wanted to win too badly. Elise's injured ankle was still the result.

Dylan looked at her with something close to pity. Of all the people she could have pushed, she'd picked Elise. Accident or no accident, this wasn't going to end well for her.

The girl retreated a few steps under Miles's glare. Her careless movement had caused far more trouble than she'd imagined. Fighting tears, she hurried over and crouched beside Elise to look at the injury.

“I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to. Let me take you to the nurse.”

Julian looked up at her, his gaze cold.

“That won't be necessary. We'll take her.”

“You?” Adrian said sharply. “What if you shove her again on the way?”

Elise sighed inwardly. All three of her brothers were genuinely angry. Her ankle still hurt, but the girl clearly hadn't meant to injure her; she'd been too intent on winning. What were they going to do about it now? Beat her up?

“It's all right. You don't need to take me,” she said. “Just be more careful next time. Don't go pushing people.”

The girl looked close to tears under the brothers' stares. Each seemed even harder to deal with than the last, and none offered her the slightest warmth. She felt as though she'd done something unforgivable.

Elise's words did little to settle her nerves. She gave up on the race altogether. Even after everyone stopped paying attention to her, she stood there, unsure what to do.

More students in uniform were running over. Others simply wanted to see what the commotion was about. Julian frowned and moved to block several who tried to crowd closer. The look on his face stopped them before they could take another step.

Adrian slid one arm beneath Elise's knees and the other behind her back, preparing to lift her. Miles unceremoniously pushed him aside.

“You're taking forever.”

In one quick movement, he got Elise onto his back. He positioned his hands to keep her feet apart and protect the injured ankle, then took off toward the health office. Dylan and the others hurried after him, struggling to keep up.

Someone in the crowd had noticed Adrian pulling off his disguise. A scream went up. Several students raised their phones and began taking pictures.

“I told you it would be better to stay away from an event like this,” Julian said, running beside him toward the health office, his brow deeply furrowed.

Adrian was still too worried about Elise's ankle to concern himself with the fuss his appearance might cause. For the first time, being a celebrity struck him as a considerable nuisance. Was he supposed to miss his own sister's sports day? What pleasure was there in life if he couldn't even come and watch her?

He gave a dismissive laugh.

“So what? The whole country already knows I dote on my little sister.”

Sports day was one of the school nurse's busiest days. In this weather, Ms. Hayes had no shortage of students suffering from the heat or nursing an injury.

Hurried footsteps sounded in the corridor. She looked up to find Northbridge's most notorious troublemaker bursting through the door with a girl on his back, sweat running down his face.

Miles found an empty bed and lowered Elise onto it.

“Come and look at her! I think she's sprained her ankle!”

Ms. Hayes stared. He was a regular visitor here. Since starting at Northbridge, he'd fought often enough to be sporting one bruise or another, though whoever fought him usually came off considerably worse. His homeroom teacher would bring him in and deliver a furious lecture about his refusal to learn. Miles never so much as changed expression. Sometimes a single look from him was enough to silence the teacher.

This was the boy who feared no teacher and made teachers tread carefully around him. What on earth had happened to leave him panicking over a girl like this?

Other students, resting after injuries or bouts of heat exhaustion, looked over. They seemed just as surprised to see him.

Ms. Hayes handed the heat-relief supplies she was holding to the student in front of her, then came across. She gave Elise a discreet, curious look. She'd heard Miles had a younger sister. Could this be her?

She set the question aside and examined the ankle, pressing gently.

“Does it hurt here?”

Her hands moved with practiced care, checking several places. Bruising stood out plainly against Elise's slender, fair ankle. When she pressed near the outer edge of the foot, Elise drew a sharp breath.

“Ow. There.”

Ms. Hayes acknowledged that and continued her examination.

Miles watched Elise's face without blinking, his hands slowly tightening into fists. Her features were screwed up with pain. All he could do was stand there and watch.

He didn't breathe easily until the examination was over.

“Nothing serious,” Ms. Hayes said, opening a cabinet and searching through it. “A mild sprain. I don't see any sign of bone damage. Some topical treatment should take care of it.”

“How long until she's better?”

“Ten days to two weeks, roughly. If it heals well, she could be moving comfortably in a week.” She went on looking through the cabinet without turning around.

“Will it hurt the whole time? What do we put on it? How often?”

He asked so quickly she barely had a chance to begin an answer. Finally she turned, a small bottle in her hand.

“The sooner it heals, the sooner it stops hurting. This is what you put on it. Morning and evening, once each.”

She tossed him the bottle.

So the rumors were true. He did adore his little sister. Adore hardly covered it, in fact. He was treating her like royalty.

Elise noticed people all over the office sneaking looks at them. Embarrassed, she tugged at Miles's shirt.

“I'm okay. It's only a little injury. You don't have to be... quite so worried.”

He seemed to realize how worked up he'd become. With a quiet sound of agreement, he opened the bottle, dipped a cotton swab into it, and began applying the treatment to her ankle.

He'd done this sort of thing often enough to know how. Even if the nurse offered to take over, he wouldn't have trusted her to be gentle enough. What if she hurt Elise?

Julian and Adrian arrived a little later. They hadn't been able to match Miles's pace and had nearly lost their way, asking several people for directions before they found the office.

The moment they came in, their eyes went straight to Elise. Neither paid any attention to the other people in the room.

“What did the nurse say?”

“How long will it take to heal?”

“Can she walk on it?”

Hearing that familiar succession of questions, Ms. Hayes turned. Both newcomers had joined Miles around the bed.

Her eyes widened. There were three of them worrying themselves sick over this girl?

The two new arrivals had a presence of their own, and strikingly handsome faces. The girls in the health office couldn't help following them with their eyes, several blushing as they did.

Ms. Hayes was considerably more courteous with them than with her habitual troublemaker.

“It's all right,” she said with a smile. “Just a mild sprain. A few days' rest will help.” Curiosity got the better of her. “May I ask who you are?”

Both men visibly relaxed at the words mild sprain. Julian inclined his head, his tone polite.

“We're her brothers.”

“Sorry?”

Miles was her brother, and these two were as well?

“All of you?”

Julian nodded.

Ms. Hayes took a deep breath. Luxury clothes, good manners, those faces. She was supposed to preserve a certain professional dignity, but the corner of her mouth still twitched. Who exactly was this girl? What had she done in a past life to deserve so many brothers, every last one of them this handsome?

The students who remained in the office listened closely. They'd heard Elise had several brothers who doted on her. Hearing about it was one thing; watching it happen in front of them was quite another.

Miles applied the treatment with such care and concentration that he seemed afraid of hurting her with the slightest movement. Julian and Adrian bent to watch, following everything his hands did.

The girls could have wept with envy. Nobody had come to visit them when they overheated or got hurt. Where did a person find brothers like these? They'd even come to sports day, and now they looked as though her sprained ankle was hurting them, too.

Julian frowned as Elise caught her lower lip between her teeth. The treatment was plainly painful.

“Shall I do it?” he asked Miles.

His youngest brother was hardly known for a delicate touch. What if he was making it worse?

Adrian was more direct. “Do you actually know what you're doing? Look at her. You're hurting her. Let the nurse do it if you can't.”

Miles looked up in irritation. He was already being as gentle as he possibly could. It was a fresh injury; of course touching it hurt. He hated seeing her in pain, too, but she needed the treatment. What else was he supposed to do?

“It's fine,” Elise said quickly. “Miles is being very gentle.”

Even that didn't smooth the lines from any of their foreheads.

A sound at the door made her look up. Jade, Nora, Dylan, and the others came in.

Jade's conspicuous look immediately drew everyone's attention. Students began whispering.

“Who's she? She doesn't go here, does she?”

“That's Jade Mercer. You don't know her? She's the tough one at the school next door.”

“What's she doing here? Don't tell me she's visiting Elise, too.”

“Elise even knows her? Seriously?”

Jade glanced at the brothers around the bed. They were all taller than her, with enough presence to make most people hesitate. She gave no sign of being impressed or intimidated. Folding her arms, she looked down at the small patch of purple where Miles was applying the treatment.

A slight frown crossed her face.

“If I'd known you were this fragile, I'd have told you to skip the events. Or I could've run for you.”

Elise gave her a helpless look. The trouble was, Jade really would have tried it.

“You'd turn up looking like that and tell the teacher you're Elise Whitmore? How convincing do you think you'd be?”

Jade pursed her lips.

“Fair point.”

Nora had come to see Elise and hadn't expected to find so many of her brothers there. Concern showed in her eyes, but she didn't dare get closer. She stayed behind Jade, holding on to her arm.

Julian had already had Jade looked into. He knew she wasn't a bad person and had no objection to her friendship with Elise. His gaze held no displeasure.

Adrian looked her up and down, then leaned toward Julian.

“That's our Ellie for you,” he whispered, giving a thumbs-up. “Even makes friends with the toughest girl around.”

Julian looked at him as though he were an idiot.

Then he noticed Nora peering shyly out from behind Jade. Their eyes met, and he gave her a gentle smile.

Her face flamed. She clutched Jade's arm tighter and pressed closer, wishing Jade could hide her completely.

After finishing with Elise's ankle, Miles asked Ms. Hayes for several more bottles. She didn't have enough in the office and would have to fetch them from the supply room.

She looked at the crowd packed around the bed.

“Could a few of you wait outside? I do have other patients.”

As she spoke, another student suffering from the heat was brought through the door.

Elise knew her brothers all wanted to stay with her, but they couldn't get in the way of everyone else's care. It was only a mild sprain. A few days would make a difference. Why were they behaving as though she had some terrible illness?

“I still need to go back to my class after we get the medicine,” she said softly. “Could you wait outside for me?”

Julian frowned. “How are you going to walk?”

She glanced at Miles.

“I have him.”

Julian and Adrian exchanged a look.

“All right.”

Before leaving, they both gave Miles distinctly threatening looks and delivered several instructions about taking proper care of their sister.

They had barely left when the loudspeaker on the field came to life. Sports day was carrying on. The boys' three-thousand-meter runners were being called to get ready.

Dylan nudged Miles.

“That's your event.”

Miles frowned. Of all the times they could have chosen to run it, why now?

“You entered the three thousand?” Elise asked in surprise.

It was the most exhausting race at sports day. Finding enough people willing to enter was difficult; finishing it generally left runners feeling half dead. Her brother had volunteered for that?

“Of course,” Dylan said proudly. “Plenty of things he can't do, but he can definitely run three thousand meters. With his stamina, he could do the whole thing twice and still have breath to spare.”

The distance was nothing to Miles. Leaving Elise was another matter. He wanted to stay here with her.

She saw him hesitate and tried again to send him off.

“Go on. Jade and Nora will stay with me.”

“Don't worry,” Dylan said, waving him away. “I'll look after our little sister, too.”

Miles turned a dangerous look on him.

“Whose little sister?”

“Your sister's my sister. Obviously.”

He'd barely got the words out before Miles lunged, hooking an arm tightly around his neck. Dylan's face began to change color.

“What the fuck has my sister got to do with you?”

“I mean I'll look after your sister!” Dylan struggled for breath. “That's all! Just look after her! Believe me!”

At first he'd thought Miles was trying to date Elise. When he'd learned she was his sister, he had briefly entertained a few ideas of his own. She was beautiful, sweet-looking, had the most adorable smile, and could skateboard. To their crowd, she was practically a goddess.

But she was Miles's sister. Who had the nerve to try anything?

A few days earlier, they'd gone with Miles when he'd tracked down the boy from the video post. All that boy had wanted was Elise's contact information, and Miles had beaten him so badly that Dylan had watched in alarm. That had extinguished what remained of his little crush. Fine. He'd think of her as a sister instead.

Apparently Miles wouldn't even let him do that. It was outrageous.

Elise and Nora both burst out laughing at the pair of them.

She kept urging Miles to go to his race. Faced with her determination, he finally went, thoroughly unwilling.

The space around the bed cleared at once. Jade and Nora sat beside Elise, while Dylan stayed on a stool to one side.

Her ankle wasn't hurting quite so much now. Once Ms. Hayes brought the extra bottles, they could leave. But injured students kept arriving, along with plenty who were suffering from the heat. She was the only nurse on duty and hadn't stopped moving. It looked as though they'd be waiting a while.

Announcements from the field drifted in through the window.

Everyone looked bored. Elise was even beginning to feel sleepy.

Dylan took it upon himself to entertain them.

“Hey, there's four of us. Pick up one random player and we've got a team. Want to play?”

He and Jade usually belonged to opposing camps, but that was a matter of loyalty to their own groups. With Elise connecting them, the hostility had somehow eased.

Jade played games herself. She liked to fit in a few matches every day; without them, her fingers itched.

“Sure.” She looked at the other two. “What about you? Do you know how?”