The clock struck 10pm. Pani folded the last of her things into the battered suitcase. All that remained of hers in the room was her toothbrush and clothes for the morning.

She drew her bathrobe around her even tighter as she looked down at her packed belongings. Leaving again, for Venice of all places...

There was a knock at the door. She turned in time to see Xander sheepishly opening it. He had two mugs in his hands. He used his foot to kick the door open a little more upon seeing she was decent but did not speak. His graphite skin took on a brownish hue in the warm light of Pani's bedroom, making him look somehow softer.

Wordlessly, Pani took the mug from his hand. He watched her as she took a sip. She coughed slightly at the unexpected extra warmth of alcohol as it slid down her throat.

When he saw that she was okay, he walked over to the doors that led onto the balcony. He kept them closed against the cold February night, but he did look out, down onto the streets of London. Crowds surged below them, large red buses thundering past, cabs and bicycles and swarms of tourists. Yet it felt quiet in the room.

Pani waited for him to speak, but it soon became clear that whatever Xander wanted, it was not conversation.

"I'm going to bed," she said finally, breaking the silence. Xander nodded and stepped away from the doors. He picked up her half-finished mug and left the room, closing the door gently beside himself.

Her things were still on the bed, as she'd left them. If it weren't for the taste of coffee and whiskey in her mouth, she'd have thought it were just a dream.

Pani thought they'd be using magical travel, but Xander had just given her a long look and told her to get in the cab. They arrived outside King's Cross Station just before 9am.

"Why are we-"

"Because JK Rowling was right and the portal between the magical world and human one is found at a border between platforms at King's Cross," Xander said. He watched her open and close her mouth a few times before he added. "It is also next door to St Pancras and the Eurostar to Paris and I hate flying."

They were barely in Paris long enough to change their money to Euros before they were on another train headed southbound.

Xander barely spoke except to give orders and Pani was glad to find that he'd booked them on a sleeper train. The cabin they had was at least quiet and Xander merely dropped his things off before skulking back out onto the train.

She'd been concerned, at first, that other people would be able to see his demonic form. But no one had looked twice at him. She wondered what it was that they saw, but knew better than to ask while he was in such a foul mood.

French countryside whizzed past the window.

Pani began to unpack some of her things for the night, aware that she probably wouldn't get a decent shower until they arrived in Italy. She laid her things neatly on the bed and was about to remove her jacket when the door slid open abruptly.

"Looks like we're double booked," a gruff woman's voice said. Her accent was strange, some kind of Eastern European to Pani's ears, though she found it strange she couldn't identify which one. The woman was tall and muscled. Femininity was perhaps not one of her strong points, but her face had a beautiful androgyny about it that Pani thought quite attractive.

The woman didn't waste any time with pleasantries though. She walked forward and threw her khaki duffel onto the bed opposite Pani. The zip was open and a pair of khaki trousers tried to escape.

"That's my employer's bed," Pani said. She was given a sly smile.

"Employer? Well, I guess that's unfortunate for him but me and my girlfriend need somewhere to sleep too," she replied. Pani wondered what she was supposed to say to that. It was almost like the woman was picking a fight.

"I'm sure there are other cabins that aren't booked yet," Pani tried. "We could go and ex-"

The door opened again and a girl walked in that looked like melted chocolate and whipped cream. There was something other-worldly about the sensuality that seemed to ooze from every pore.

"Found him," the new woman said, her voice causing the hairs on the back of Pani's neck to stand up. She noticed that she had managed to drag Xander inside by the hand, though he didn't look like he was protesting too much.

"Good. I won't need to do anything to his dear podmaste'e," she said and Pani realized she was Russian.

"Xander, who's this?" Pani asked, her voice shaking slightly now. There was something about these women that she couldn't place.

"Akeldama, and her lover, Ahava," Xander said, then swallowed thickly. Pani realized that his lack of reluctance wasn't comfort. "I've never had the pleasure of introducing you before."

"Always so careful with the names, eh Xander? But to allow her to understand the exact nature of her predicament, perhaps you should go one level closer to the truth. The translation of our names will do fine," the muscled woman, Akeldama, said. Xander's eyes looked large and panicked now but he firmed his resolve and tore his eyes back to Pani.

"Pani, this is War," he said, gesturing to the androgynous woman. He then gestured to the other woman. "The other woman is... is Lust."

Pani took it in slowly. War. She would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that things were starting to make a certain amount of sense. A Horseman of the Apocalypse, her lover, a Deadly Sin, and the one who had made the deal. A man who had looked like a Bird Doctor of Venice... Peste.

"Are you here to stop us from taking on Peste?" she asked. Both Xander and War looked impressed.

"She's a quick one. Let it not be said you suffer fools, Xander. But no, I am not here to make your life hard. I'm here to help you. My least helpful brother has overstepped himself this time, and he needs to realize quite how far," War said, cracking her knuckles as she spoke. Pani felt a thrill of fear go through her. Even though the gesture wasn't aimed at her, there was something about it that made her want to flee the room.

"What issue do you have with your brother?" Pani asked. Xander groaned.

"I am War. I always have an issue with someone. But this time I am not the only one who is baying to give my brother a good beating. Even Mortimer is on my side, and he doesn't usually get involved in such petty squabbles," War said with a shrug. Pani looked at Xander, eyes wide.

Horsemen. Pestilence. War. Death. The only one missing was Famine.

"How did you discover they have our names?" Xander asked. War gave him a smile that was as fierce as a bomb blast.

"For what other reason would you leave your little nest in London?" she asked. "We don't know the particulars, but we know that Pestilence visited you and then the next thing you're off to Europe. It's been too long since I've seen you angered, Xander. I truly look forward to seeing it again."

At that moment Lust moved between them both, a smile stretched across her features that spoke of promises for both parties if they did her bidding.

"Let us hope that Peste sees sense when he sees his big sister and that it doesn't come to that," she said silkily. Pani thought that every cliché that had ever been written about sex came from this one woman.

"Now, I'm hungry and we should really not dawdle around this cramped little cabin in any case," Lust said, putting her hand on Xander's arm. "Be a darling and escort me."

Pani watched as Xander nodded, dumbly, and departed. Lust's hips sashayed from side to side.

"Your employer eh?" War commented. Pani said nothing. She wasn't going to start a fight with War. It seemed like a bad idea.

Venice was not how Pani had ever expected it. It smelled weird and there was graffiti on the walls. Away from the tourist areas, rubbish piled in the streets and she was sure she'd seen more rats than people.

"Are you sure we are in the right place?" she asked. Xander rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Disease does not live so well amongst the elite," he replied. Pani had to agree he had a point. She followed him into the rundown apartment building that was to be their base.

Once inside, War immediately made herself at home amongst the dusty, shattered furnishings. Lust set her suitcase down and then began to lounge near the window, looking out across the town. Pani found a bedroom after nearly pulling a jammed door off its hinges and began to unpack her things. Shortly after Xander joined her.

"Pani, we should go for dinner together tonight," Xander said. Pani looked up, surprised.

"Dinner?" she asked, her voice a little high-pitched. Xander began to rub at one of his horns as he thought.

"Yes. Just the two of us..." he said. Pani felt something thud in her chest but she tried to ignore it.

"I haven't brought anything like that to wear," she said, looking at her case. Xander made a noise in the back of his throat. She looked up at him but his expression was blank.

"A suit will do, Pani. Just be ready by six," he said. Pani looked down at her things and then looked at the clock. Barely half an hour. Xander left with as little ceremony as he entered.

"Oh Pani, when you signed that contract, you really didn't expect this did you?" she mused to herself before starting to shuck her traveling clothes and grabbing her work suit.

Xander waited for her on the street. He had flowers in his hand. He looked far too awkward. His suit was mismatched browns, his shirt slightly too big around the collar and the tie he'd chosen didn't really match his shirt. He was agitatedly shifting from foot to foot and glancing up at the apartment every few seconds.

Pani stepped out finally, smoothing her hair.

"Ah there you are. Here, I got these for you," Xander said, holding the flowers out abruptly. Pani took them and smiled. She barely had time to sniff them before Xander had taken her hand and was pulling her down the street.

"Let's get out of sight," he said hushedly. "Though your acting was remarkable. Well done."

Pani felt a surge of unease.

"Acting?" she asked. Xander nodded, flashing her a bright smile.

"I doubt Lust or War suspected a thing with how you were acting. I thought that perhaps you had misread what I intended, but you did wonderfully," he said, patting her arm. He took the bouquet from her hands and threw it into the nearby canal.

"Oh. Of course," Pani replied, trying not to show that she was completely and utterly poleaxed. "But I'm not sure I understood everything. Where are we going?"

"Away," Xander said firmly. "And you're going to use one of those wishes of yours. I need for you to wish me good luck."

Pani nodded. Xander took her other hand. Hers felt clammy where his were calm. A wish. She had promised him this.

"I wish for good luck for Xander," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "What's the cost?"

"Your memories of everything that has transpired since becoming my apprentice. You will lose everything that led up to this point," Xander said softly. Pani stared at him.

"I'll forget everything?" she questioned. Xander let go of her hand to brush a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Everything," he said softly.

Cups of coffee on early mornings, dodging around stacks of books to find a pen, granting wishes, crying over unfair things, knowing that Xander was more than just a deal making demon... She would forget it all?

"Do you have a pen?" she asked. Xander shook his head.

"We will do this the old fashioned way, Pani. With blood," he said. The knife was sharp and before Pani had even seen it, her hand within Xander's had been sliced open. Her blood flowed red across her palm. A few seconds later, Xander's own palm was laid against hers.

Then all was gone.