Janess.

Janess was possibility. Janess was terror. Janess was legend.

Janess was the one thing on Saturnine that offered any hope. When it seemed the world couldn’t get any darker, that there was no light left. It was also something else… the ultimate risk. With Janess, there was no indecision, no hedging your bets. You were either with Janess and against the god of Saturnine or you weren’t. To be on the side of one was to be diametrically opposed to the other; as two sides go, as far as the west is from the east.

Tobi pulled her face back and brushed Tess’s hair from the newly discovered marking on the girl’s body. She ran her finger lightly over the seal, studying every aspect of its design. Two faces looking in opposite directions. Between them, a closed gate. That’s all the seal consisted of – it was enough. The message was clear: the beginning of peace.

Tobi felt a sob catch in her throat. Could this be a sign? Could this mean something about her own future? She didn’t know if she believed in fate or the universe favoring some souls over others, but… she wanted to. She had nothing else. This would be something. Her family was gone, she couldn’t find Vawndila, and Miss Antonina was determined to break her spirit. This, though, it could be something…