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outside. Max had never seen Cooper in the dormitory wings and guessed that his unexpected presence accounted for the empty hallway and its uncharacteristic silence.
    “Hi, Cooper!” Max shouted, for the benefit of those downstairs.
    Cooper gave Max a quizzical glance but said nothing as he stepped past Max to examine the room and its celestial ceiling. Max heard the frantic whispers of his classmates down below.
    “Who else is here?” asked the Agent, eyeing the staircase to the lower level.
    “Nobody,” said Max defensively. “I mean, nobody who shouldn’t be here. I mean, er, Connor, Cynthia, Sarah, and Lucia.”
    “Dinner’s getting cold downstairs,” Cooper murmured. “They’ll need to hurry if they want to eat.”
    “What?” asked Max. “They have to go?”
    “No,” said Cooper. “You do. Grab a sweater.”
    Max hesitated.
    “And where do I have to go?”
    “The Director’s decided that you and David are to be Acclimated,” said Cooper. “We have to be there before midnight.”
    “Maybe I should talk to Ms. Richter,” said Max, not at all liking the sound of Acclimation.
    “The Director’s been in meetings ever since that witch left. She’s not to be disturbed.”
    “But I haven’t slept in, like, twenty-four hours,” pleaded Max.
    “You can sleep in the car,” muttered Cooper unsympathetically. “Where’s David?”
    “I don’t know,” said Max quickly, very anxious that Cooper should not learn anything of Mr. Sikes. “He left a little while ago.”
    Cooper frowned.
    “We need to find him—now.”
    “Guys,” called Max, “I’ve got to go somewhere with Cooper.”
    The girls shuffled upstairs, murmuring good-byes as they filed quickly past Cooper. Connor came last, hefting his duffel and holding the small felt bag of stones.
    “Hey, Max,” he said. “That thing is all taken care of—I wouldn’t worry about it.”
    “Er, thanks,” said Max, secretly horrified that Connor had sent Mr. Sikes on his errands.
    Connor disappeared into his room across the hall, and Max trotted back downstairs to snatch a pair of sweatshirts. All evidence of Mr. Sikes’s visit had vanished—the lemonades, coasters, and glowing circle were nowhere to be found.
    As it turned out, David was easy to track down; Cooper and Max stumbled upon him as soon as they walked out the front door of the Manse. David sat at the edge of the drive’s circular fountain, dragging his hand through the gurgling water and gazing out at a sky of fading yellows and oranges that signaled the end of the day. He accepted Cooper’s command without comment and tucked the sweatshirt Max had brought for him under his arm as Cooper pulled a long black sedan round to the fountain.
    Once inside the car, there was little talking as Cooper deflected Max’s questions and David sat quietly gazing out the window. The sedan wound past clipped lawns and tended gardens until it reached the darkening woods, easing under a newly constructed archway that tunneled through the massive walls of swirling granite that David had drawn from the earth. Great gates of iron swung outward, and the car was bathed in the sudden glare of powerful spotlights. Cooper accelerated, leaving Rowan far behind as they joined the broader road and sped up the rocky coast.
    Since Cooper refused to answer any questions, Max had resolved to sleep throughout the ride. He was still half dozing when he felt the car ease to a stop. The engine was shut off, and Max heard Cooper exit the car, his footsteps crunching on gravel. Max’s door opened and he was unceremoniously plucked from the warm leather seat, his feet set down on the gravel, where he yawned and blinked at a stand of sparse-needled pines. A moment later, Cooper set David down beside him.
    “Where are we?” asked Max.
    Cooper ignored his question and glanced at his watch.
    “No time for questions,” he said. “The instructions are simple. You two are to follow that path down to the beach. Once there,