Tooth did not return Pitch's greeting. Instead, she met his gaze evenly, gave a bob of her feathered head, and then found a moonlit perch above where shadows were kept at bay. It would be safer up there for her, she calculated; below, there were too many lightless spaces, and Pitch was in command of those.

"Shall we get this over with?" Tooth prompted, her tone about as civil as she could muster. She didn't want to be near him any longer than necessary.