The Eye of Minds Read Online Free Page A

time to mess around. I need you to get in the car.”
    Michael’s face was pressed against the cement. “Oh really? I’ll be perfectly safe? I was just thinking that.”
    “Shut your smart-aleck mouth, kid. We just can’t let anybody know who we are. Now get in the car.”
    The man got to his feet, dragging Michael up with him.
    “Your butt,” the stranger said, pausing for effect. “In the car.”
    Michael made one last pathetic attempt to break free, but it was useless. The man’s grip was iron-strong. Michael had no choice but to do what he was told. The fight drained out of him, and he let the man guide him to the backseat of the car, where he squeezed in next to another masked man. The door slammed shut and the car lurched forward, the screech of the tires echoing up the walls of the concrete canyon.
6
    As the car tore out of the alley and onto the main road, Michael’s mind spun—who were these people, and where were they taking him? Another wave of panic washed over him, and he acted. He slammed his elbow into the crotch of the guy to his left, then lunged for the door as the man doubled over in agony, cursing things that would’ve made even Bryson blush. Michael’s fingers had just curled around the door handle when the original thug yanked him backward, his arm encircling Michael’s neck. The man squeezed until Michael was gasping for air.
    “Stop it, boy,” he said far too calmly. For some reason those were the last words Michael wanted to hear. Anger surged in his chest, and he struggled to break free from the grip.
    “Stop it!” the stranger screamed this time. “Stop acting like a child and calm yourself. We’re
not
going to hurt you.”
    “You’re actually hurting me right now,” Michael coughed out.
    The man loosened his grip. “Behave, and that’s the worst of it. Do we have a deal, kid?”
    “Fine,” Michael grunted, because what else could he do? Ask for time to think about it?
    The man seemed to relax at that. “Good. Now sit back and shut up,” he directed. “Wait, no, first apologize to my friend—that was totally uncalled for.”
    Michael looked over at the guy to his left and shrugged. “Sorry. Hope you can still have babies.”
    The man didn’t respond, but his glare through the ski mask was fierce. Humbled by the man’s anger, Michael looked away. The adrenaline had faded, his strength was exhausted, and he was being driven through the city by four men in black masks.
    Things didn’t look so bright.
7
    The rest of the ride went by in complete silence. Michael’s heart, however, continued to thump away like a heavy-metal drumbeat. He thought he’d known fear before. He’d been thrown into countless horrific situations in the VirtNet that had felt perfectly real. But this
was
real. And the fear was beyond anything he’d experienced. He wondered if he would drop dead of cardiac arrest at the ripe old age of sixteen.
    As if in mockery, every glance outside seemed to land on those red-on-black
Lifeblood Deep
posters. Even though the tiny optimistic side of his brain kept trying to tell him that somehow he’d get out of this alive, he knew that being kidnapped by masked men usually didn’t end well. The signs only reminded him that his dream of reaching the Deep probably wouldn’t happen after all.
    Finally, they reached the outskirts of the city and turned into the huge parking lot of the stadium where the Falcons played. It was completely empty, and the driver pulled to the very front row, where he stopped and set the emergency brake, the massive structure looming above them. A sign in the front of the parking space read RESERVED. VIOLATORS WILL BE TOWED.
    A beep sounded from somewhere in the car, followed by a crack from outside, then the whir of machinery. Immediately afterward the vehicle started to sink into the ground, and Michael’s heart leaped. As they descended, the brightness of day quickly melted into fluorescent interior lighting.
    Finally, the car