Hanif sneered. "Your kind always likes to scream when caught, as if someone is going to hear you and save you. It's happened with every genie I've destroyed," he tsked away at her.

"How many?" Grace coughed, caught between fear and agony.

"Of your kind? You'll make my ninth," Hanif smiled, remembering the promise of promotion for catching her. "I'm getting quite good at it now. That's why I always come prepared."

He pulled a roll of duct tape out of his tool belt, and set about ripping off a good sized chunk. Once he had the right size, he slapped the tape over her mouth, greatly m.u.f.fling her screams.

"Much better," he sighed. "Although if you persist with that wailing, I'll resort to other methods of keeping you quiet. Methods that you won't find so pleasant." Hanif flashed the handle of his knife, which was carefully belted to his waist, letting her know he meant what he said.

Grace ceased her struggle, accepting that she had been caught. Tears once more began to fall down her cheeks, knowing that all genies, once caught by wardens, never survived to tell the tale. Her only hope was with Stephen. Letting out another groan, she worried about what he would have done to Stephen.

At that very moment, a roar of excitement echoed through the house, and Grace watched as Stephen charged through the open room directly at the warden. She scooted back as much as she could, to avoid the inevitable struggle between her master and the warden.

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Stephen had gone for a diving tackle against Hanif's chest, which tossed them both back over the bed. Having only recently regained his senses, he was at an immediate disadvantage and struggled to block the blows of the warden against his still fragile body.

"You should have... stayed outside!" Hanif roared in return as his fist made contact with Stephen's jaw. The sound of the punch reverberated throughout the room, leading to a blood curdling scream from Grace as she watched him get pummeled not once, but twice by the burly warden.

Stephen felt the force explode against his jaw, while his vision disappeared instantly. He could feel his body drop against the hard floor beneath him, and his world grew a shade darker. The pain in his ribs from outside, and the aching stiffness of his entire body, was now coupled with shattered vision and the devastating pain against his jaw. He could still hear Grace's screams from across the room, but time began to slow itself. He could hear every tick of the warden's footsteps as he scooped up the screaming genie, and walked out of the room. Stephen could no longer hope to stop him, not with his head spinning like it was. Darkness took him and soon he was unconscious.