Page 18 of When the Moon Hatched (The Moonfall #1)

I t’s freezing on the outskirts of Netheryn, but for a Moonplume egg to incubate, it must stay right here in the cold until it starts to rock. Then I must pack clumps of ice around it and wait for the hatchling to free itself from the shell.

I must do all this on my own because Haedeon can’t. Because I found him sleeping at the bottom of a crevice, cuddling his stolen Moonplume egg, unable to move his legs.

I shook him awake. Told him I’d get Mahmi and Pahpi. He said I’d die if I took the sleigh home myself. That his egg would die, too.

That really worried me.

The sleigh can’t make it up this far, so I built a snow hut to keep Haedeon safe and warm while he sleeps himself better. Then I made three trips to the hatching hut on my own and moved all our things.

I shook Haedeon awake again and told him I’ll try really, really hard to drag him out into the cold when his Moonplume starts to hatch so he can bond with it. He touched my face, told me he loves me and that he’s glad I snuck onto his sleigh, then fell back into a really deep sleep.

He’s doing lots of sleeping. I’m starting to worry he won’t wake. That his chest will suddenly stop moving.

The thought makes my own chest hurt. Makes me want to cry.

I won’t. I refuse. I have to be strong for Haedeon because he can’t be strong for himself.

But if he doesn’t wake, I’ve decided I’m not going home. I can’t get him on a sleigh, and I won’t leave him here in the cold and the dark on his own. He hates being alone, and he really hates the dark.

I miss Mahmi and Pahpi.