[Skulduggery enters, setting the bag down on the nearest surface with space for it.]

Oh, absolutely not. It's fair to express concern for others, even when they're not around, but Max would hate to know anyone was worried about him. [And he means it; emotions seem to be nearly humiliating for Max to experience, and he has no interest in making it worse.]

When we found what we were looking for on the island, we unwittingly triggered a defense mechanism. We were all afflicted by various magical curses while escaping to the beach. I... admit that I don't know what happened to Max, specifically. Ava took off in the wrong direction, and he followed after her. I'm not sure she would have made it back to the beach in time if he hadn't.