Resurrection by Nancy Holder

such mundane fantasies as love. Eli was a Deveraux warlock, consecrated to the Horned God, and it was obvious even to him that this consuming worry was wrongheaded and harmful. He was so distracted that any number of his enemies could have snuck up on him at that very moment, and he wouldn’t even have noticed if one of them had cut him down.
    Which is why I have to find her .
    Although the city sparkled, and sun glinted off the windshields of the thousands of cars, trucks, and buses barreling down the narrow Parisian streets, no telltale red glow revealed the object of his finder’s spell: Nicole Anderson Moore, widow of James, and daughter-in-law of Sir William. And her child.
    That child is mine. It has to be. Because Nicole is mine.
    She has to be.
    He placed his palms on the battlement of the cathedral, and listened to the blood roaring in his ears. Magic thrummed through him. Once, he had been very skilled at watching and waiting. But no more.
    No more.
    Frustrated, he trudged back to his hotel room. He slammed the door and flopped onto the bed. With a huff, he tried to decide what to do next.
    Â 
    As Philippe knelt inside Notre Dame Cathedral, he realized he had never felt so alone. He lit two white candles and prayed fervently as he stared into their twin flames. Each represented a group of people he was desperate to find. He prayed to find them both, but he would be happy if he could at least find one.
    He had been a fool to leave Nicole’s side. When he had gotten the distress call from Pablo, though, it had been one of the most vivid, terrifying moments of his life, and it had awakened him out of a deep sleep. It had taken him a couple of weeks, but he had at last tracked the group to Cologne. After that, though, it was as if they had simply vanished.
    When he had finally given up, he had tried to return to Nicole’s side, only to discover that for some reason he could not find her. He should have been able to find his lady; they were in thrall to each other,and that was an unbreakable bond. Something dark seemed to be hiding her from his sight. Something dark crossed his mind, and the flame of his candles were snuffed by an unseen hand.
    Â 
    Eli woke with a shout. Sweat ran off his body in sheets and he was shaking uncontrollably. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was on his TV, but in French. He didn’t know how he’d fallen asleep or how the set had turned on, but it was two in the afternoon and he’d been out for at least half an hour. He felt completely drained in a way he never had before. He had pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion before, but it had been nothing like this. He felt as though all the life had gone out of him, only to suddenly be restored. It terrified him.
    He stood up and walked around the room, stretching his limbs and conjuring a few small magics. Everything seemed to be functioning, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had lost something.
    â€œApparently just my sanity,” he said to himself.
    He’d assumed his search spell would have yielded results by now. After all, he was an extremely powerful warlock. Maybe Nicole didn’t want him to find her. The thought wounded him to the quick, which was almost as irritating as his failed magic.
    â€œI demand an answer,” he grumbled to the chilly air.
    Magic crackled. On the TV screen a close-up shot of Notre Dame Cathedral flashed; then the TV abruptly turned off.
    Eli stared for a moment, surprised. He knew better than to look for a rational explanation. Magic was in the air; he could feel it. Apparently the next stop on his quest would take him inside one of the most famous of Parisian landmarks. Ironic, given that he’d spent the morning on top of it.
    â€œWhy’d it have to be a church?” he sighed.
    Â 
    Eli had been practicing dark magic long enough to know that no matter what you did or who you sacrificed, sometimes you still didn’t get what you wanted. As he