The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance

dragging her down and shielding her with my body as best I could. Guardian magic can do a lot of things, but it won’t stop hot lead.
    Maggie felt soft and indignant under me, but was smart enough not to struggle. Guardians have sometimes been persecuted as witches over the centuries, and the ones who survived long enough to procreate knew how to duck and cover.
    A couple of bullets splintered the counter above my head before Goatee Guy growled, “Stop shooting, Shark! Someone will call the cops.”
    My guess was that Rajiv already had, using a foot switch under the counter. God, Rajiv! My stomach churned. He was an only child. His death would destroy his parents and grandparents.
    Maybe he wasn’t dead yet. Keeping my voice soft and unthreatening, I raised my head. “I’m a doctor. Will you let me look at the clerk?”
    Tattoo Man said incredulously, “This loser is a doctor?”
    The third guy, Shark, said in a jittery voice, “We should shoot ‘em all and get the hell out of here while we can.”
    Maggie said from her position flat on her stomach, “Charles won’t cause any trouble.” Her voice was as persuasive as honey poured over a bear. “If he can keep the clerk from bleeding to death, it’s better for everyone.”
    Goatee Guy gestured towards Rajiv with his gun. “OK, but don’t try nothin’! Shark, break open the cash register. When you’ve got the cash, we’ll take what these two have.” His gaze lingered on Maggie in a way that made me nervous.
    I moved to Rajiv’s side. Blood everywhere, but he was still breathing. I’d had my share of rotations in the ER, so I shut my mind to the knowledge that one of my best friends was bleeding out. This was just another crime victim. Start by figuring out how bad the damage was.
    I ripped his T-shirt open from neck to waist. There were three bullet holes, one just a graze across the top of his shoulder, no big deal.
    His eyes flickered open. “Don’t get creeped out if you fail, Charlie,” he whispered unsteadily. “Remember I’m Hindu. I get ... to reincarnate.” His eyes drifted shut again.
    What kind of loon cracks jokes at a time like this?
    The best kind.
    Two of the bullets had gone into his chest. Either could kill him. I closed my eyes and skimmed my hands above the wounds, feeling the catastrophic damage to muscle, bone, nerves and blood vessels.
    But the wounds weren’t quite lethal, if I could repair the worst of the damage in time. “Maggie, get over here,” I ordered. “I need help applying pressure.”
    She joined me in kneeling by Rajiv’s side. After a wary glance at the thugs, she turned away and hunched over Rajiv. I felt the buzz as she generated a minor spell to reduce their interest in her.
    “Do you have a clean handkerchief or anything like that?” I asked.
    “Who carries handkerchiefs these days?” Looking a little green at the amount of gore splashed around, Maggie reached over to a rack of miscellaneous grooming and toiletry products to our left. It took her only a moment to crack open a package that contained a shoe polishing kit.
    After handing me the folded polishing cloth, she opened a second package. A smart, hot chick. I really hoped we both survived this so I could persuade her that I was worth knowing. As I used the folded fabric to compress the worst of the bullet holes, I said, “Press on that other wound. And please don’t faint.”
    She managed an uneven smile as she set the second polishing cloth on the other wound and leaned on it with the heel of her hand. “I won’t.”
    As Shark noisily smashed the cash register, she breathed into my ear in a voice so soft only a Guardian could hear it, “You’re really a doctor?”
    “Yeah, if I pass the final exams I’m taking this week. I’m also a Guardian healer. But my specialty is disease and infection and that sort of thing, not surgery and trauma.” I closed my eyes as I concentrated on Rajiv’s torn vena cava, the most lethal of his injuries. When I had the structure clearly in my mind, I poured energy around the tear, pulling the ragged edges together . . .
    Damn, I couldn’t quite get it! The pieces slid out of my control.
    I tried again, then again. Still couldn’t repair the damage, and time - as well as Rajiv’s blood - was running out fast. “I need more energy, Maggie. Drop those shields and touch my hand so I can borrow some power.”
    She started to protest, then shut up and spread her fingers so her right little finger