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Lady Greengrass literally flew out of the apparation funnel, rolling along the edge of the forest and crashing into a tree with her back. Nothing serious - not with her body modification. But again, these mere fractions of a second allowed Max, who emerged from the funnel of the apparation, to be there immediately, and with another tap on her shoulder, to take away the woman's ability to move.

Leaning over Delphine, lying on her back in her casual leather suit, Max moved his hand over her, touching her with his index finger in seemingly random places. It was as if he was touching an unknown animal... The thought seemed absurd, and contrary to the situation, would have made Delphine laugh if she could have laughed. On the other hand, Max's gaze was not funny - it was blank, and it was as if he were looking through a woman.

After trying to cast a couple of wandless canceling charms, Lady Greengrass realized the depth of the danger of the situation - the magic did not work! More precisely, it didn't obey her! Attempts were in vain, and after listening for a moment to the sensations of her own magic, Delphine was even more surprised - in the places where Max touched her with his finger, the magic began some wild, unknown dance, spending itself on... on something!

"Ha-as..." a real snake whisper came to the woman's ear from the guy's mouth. "Sha-a s-s-s..."

The guy jerked his head sharply, tilting it to the side, and instead of a hiss, he growled a couple of times, again staring somewhere deep into the woman's body. And anxiety grew into fear. The only thing that saved her from panic was the countdown in Lady Greengrass's head — a couple of seconds until the end of the ritual and the potion.

But these seconds passed, and Max was still engaged in the same, incomprehensible and making some changes in her body, actions. Quiet whispering from his lips now and then was replaced by growls, sometimes quite different in intonation, and a couple of times even quite understandable words and phrases burst out: do not eat; cultivate; then tastier; do not spoil your own garden; drink; well, at least try.

The uncertainty and fear made her heart beat at breakneck speed. In addition to the disobedient magic and the inability to move at least a finger, some tension grew in the body, which tingled throughout the nervous system. Thoughts jumped from one to the other, but one stood out brightly:

Another series of hisses and growls ended with, "Just a little bit." Much to Delphine's shock, Max put one hand under the back of her head and lifted her off the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his fangs, and the picture gained certain integrity: right now, she would be drunk or poisoned. And nothing can be done. The phrase "just a little bit" inspired hope and then the opportunity to recoup properly…

However, the situation changed again. Max jerked his head sharply, put the woman back on the ground, and rose to his full height. Once again, he broke into a series of hisses and growls. As if arguing with himself. He looked somewhere in the distance, toward the sunset.

"Only under disguise..." he said in English, and his robe turned to black smoke, changing its outline to a dense black suit and already another hooded robe. Passing a black-gloved hand in front of his face, the guy created impenetrable darkness under the hood and disappeared into a whirlwind of apparation.

Delphine felt incredible relief, along with the deepest disappointment.

"I've never been so neglected before." Gradually calming down and looking at the slowly darkening evening sky, Lady Greengrass, who was not at all aristocratically lying motionless as a doll at the edge of the forest under a tree, tried to regain her body's mobility. Not without success. All it takes is time.