Sacred Ground. Alex Archer

frowned. That would mean that it had its own intelligence. And if that was the case, then was Annja ever really in control of it?

      Or was she simply being possessed?

      That didn’t sound particularly enticing to her. Good or evil, possession meant that she didn’t have any measure of control.

      “You okay?”

      Annja snapped her eyes open and glanced at Godwin. “Sorry, must have drifted off there for a moment.”

      “It happens,” he said. “All this white. Snow blindness. It can make you crazy after a bit.”

      Annja sighed. “Yet you don’t seem to be affected by it.”

      “My father made sure I knew how to deal with it.”

      “Did he, now?”

      “Sure. He taught me a lot of stuff.”

      “Like how to recognize the assassin’s dagger.”

      Godwin glanced at her. “Yes. That, too.”

      “Interesting.”

      “Is it?”

      “I think so.”

      “We all have those aspects of ourselves that seem mysterious to everyone else, but aren’t necessarily.” Godwin winked at her. “We all have our secrets.”

      Annja glanced back at Derek, but he was still studying the map. Had he said something to Godwin?

      She looked back at Godwin but he was already peering out of the windshield again. “We should be just about there.”

      Annja followed his gaze. Up ahead she thought she spotted something red amid all the white. “Is that the sign for the turnoff?”

      Godwin shrugged. “Could be.”

      Derek perked up. “Are we there?”

      Annja pointed. “That looks like a sign to me. What do you think?”

      Derek leaned forward. “Slow down, Godwin. We don’t want to miss the turnoff and keep driving for hours on end. I don’t think Annja would appreciate that very much, would you?”

      “No, I wouldn’t.”

      Godwin slowed the truck even more and then they saw the small piece of plywood tacked to a metal pole jutting out of the snow on the side of the ice road.

      “Erop,” Annja said. “I guess this is our exit.”

      Godwin wheeled the truck around and they turned to the right. Annja noticed that the road gradually climbed higher in elevation. She looked at Derek. “Am I right in thinking that we are no longer driving over frozen water?”

      He smiled. “You’re right. We’re on dry ground again. The ice road is a thing of the past.”

      Annja glanced back at the frozen Mackenzie River and shuddered. She hoped Derek was right—that it really was a thing of the past.

      9

      Thirty minutes of hard, bumpy driving brought them into the tiny town of Erop, a collection of a few buildings, a gas station and two restaurants. It looked more like a refueling point than anything else, its identity marked by whatever or whoever moved through the place.

      “Let me out,” Derek said. “If I don’t get to a bathroom after all that bladder beating, I’m done for.”

      Annja could sympathize. The drive to Erop had been a constant bouncing and sinking over a road that could only just be called that. She headed for one of the restaurants while Derek headed for the other. Godwin drove on to the gas station, saying he would fill up and get a replacement tire for the one they’d lost.

      Ten minutes later, they were back on their way. Derek bought them all sandwiches, which they gratefully demolished and Erop fell behind them, a slightly pleasant memory for the basic human comfort it had offered up and nothing more.

      The road twisted through the frozen countryside and then after another thirty minutes, broke out onto Hendrick’s Highway. Godwin gave up a little cheer and steered the truck onto a paved road for the first time that day.

      “Hooray,” Annja said. “The mark of civilization.”

      “For someone who spends so much of her time in the past,” Derek said, “you sure seem ready to put the past behind you.”

      “Bad roads are bad roads,” Annja said. “And there’s nothing of interest to be found on them. Plus, my butt was taking another beating back there.”

      “Just so long as you don’t start thinking that where we’re headed is any more civilized, because it’s not.”

      “I realize that,” Annja said. “But it doesn’t change my mind about being relieved to be off that road.”

      Godwin grinned. “I feel the same way.”

      Hendrick’s Highway was a two-lane road, and even though the asphalt had seen better days, the stretch proved to be a welcome change from both the ice road and the roller-coaster ride of the road to Erop. The SUV’s tires all seemed in decent shape and Godwin had managed to procure a spare tire, just in case they should run into another rock jutting out of the landscape.

      Annja felt good for the first time all day. An hour of driving would take them to their turnoff and then they could finally get to where they were going. Getting to the dig site was always the hardest part. Annja could put up with a lot of stuff, but she was often impatient when it came to actually reaching the destination. She liked getting there already.

      She didn’t kid herself. The events of the morning and the run-in with the giant truck didn’t make her feel especially good about what might be waiting ahead. The incident in the steak house was still fresh in her mind and she turned all these events over in her mind, trying to figure out what could be going on in the frozen tundra that surrounded her.

      If people weren’t happy with what was going on with the Araktak, there’d be no telling what they would do to keep the company from completing its deal with the tribe. That meant Annja might have to use the sword again.

      And that was something she didn’t really want to do.

      Godwin turned the SUV suddenly and looked embarrassed. “Sorry, almost missed the turn.”

      “You all right? I can take over driving for a while if you want,” Annja said.

      He shook his head. “It’s no problem. I was just yawning, that’s all.”

      Annja glanced behind her but Derek was already dozing. She heard a soft snore come from him and turned back. “Is he a decent guy to work for?”

      Godwin shrugged. “Yeah, he’s all right. Pretty fair, that sort of thing. It’s not my dream job, of course, but it gives me the money to save and put away for when I figure out what I really want to do with my life.”

      “How old are you?”

      “Twenty-eight.” He shrugged. “I know. I ought to have a game plan by now, right?”

      Annja smiled. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

      He waved his hand. “I’ve heard so much advice from people urging me to find my way and find it fast. But I guess I’m just not in that big a hurry. I know there’s something out there for me, but I haven’t really felt a pull toward anything. Weird, right?”

      “Well, at least you’re working.” Annja shrugged. “That’s better than what a lot of people in your situation would do.”

      “Seemed like a good fit,” Godwin said. “The company, I mean. And I was intrigued with the idea of going home to my birthplace, so to speak, after being away from it for so long.”

      “I’ll bet,” Annja said. “I’m still trying