"No!" The girl tried to push away from me. "No, I'll lose my leg!"
"You're bleeding to death."
"No, it's not that bad! It doesn't hurt!"
I gripped her shoulders and propped her up. She saw the shredded mess of her thigh. "Oh God."
"What's your name?"
She sobbed.
"Your name?"
"Emily."
"Emily, your leg has almost been amputated. If I put the tourniquet on it now, it will stop the bleeding and you might survive. If I don't put it on, you'll bleed to death in minutes."
She clutched at me, crying into my shoulder. "I'll be a cripple." "You'll be alive. And with magic, your chances of keeping your leg are pretty good. You know, medmages heal all sorts of wounds. But we've got to keep you alive until the magic wave hits. Yes?"
She just cried, big tears rolling down her face.
"Yes, Emily?"
"Yes."
"Good."
I slipped the band under her leg, threaded it through the buckle, pulled it tight, and wound the windlass until the bleeding stopped.
Four minutes later the gunfire finally died. Ghastek was still out. His pulse was steady, his breathing even. Emily lay still, whimpering in pain, her leg cinched by the wide tourniquet cuff. Her friend hugged herself, rocking back and forth and mumbling over and over, "They shot at us, they shot at us."
Peachy.
That was the problem with the People: most of them saw action only through the vampire's eyes while they sat in a safe, well-armored room within the Casino, sipping coffee and indulging in an occasional sugary snack. Getting shot at while riding a vampire's mind and dodging actual bullets were two different animals.
A loud bang resonated through the door. A male voice barked. "Atlanta Paranormal Squad. Open the door."
The dark-haired girl froze. Her voice fell to a horrified whisper. "Don't open it."
"Don't worry. I got it under control." Sort of.
I slid a narrow panel aside, revealing a two-inch-by-four-inch peephole. A shadow shifted to my left--the officer had pressed against the wall so I couldn't shoot him through the opening.
"Did you get the vamp?"
"We got it. Open the door."
"Why?"
There was a small pause. "Open. The. Door."
"No." They were hot from killing the vampire and still trigger-happy. There was no telling what they would do if I let them in.
"What do you mean, `no'?" He seemed genuinely puzzled.
"Why do you need me to open the door?"
"So we can apprehend the sonovabitch who dropped a loose vampire in the middle of the city."