Free Frost Burn (The Fire and Ice Series, Book 1) by Erica Stevens

edge.
    “What about you?” she demanded of him. Her tone came out far more hostile than she’d intended, but he’d just tossed her well-ordered life into the crapper.
    “I was changed when I was twenty-two, that was five hundred and seventy-six years ago.”
    Quinn was extremely proud she managed to keep her mouth from dropping. “You’re an Elder?”
    “One of the only two left.”
    Oh this whole situation kept getting better and better. Any vampire over five hundred years old moved into the Elder category and held a whole new level of supremacy over all the younger vampires. It definitely explained the power sizzling off of him and causing her skin to tingle. She had no chance of escaping him by jumping out of the window, she realized.
    “And some of The Commission may still be out there too. If they are, they will be taken care of,” Julian continued.
    “Bad experience with them?” she inquired.
    “You could say that.” Her curiosity was piqued by his clipped tone, but she didn’t press him further.
    She wistfully eyed the couch again; she didn’t even have the energy to haul her ass into her bedroom right now. A few hours to try and collect her thoughts would be awesome, instead she settled for finishing off her soda. She walked into the kitchen to grab another soda and a package of Reese’s.
    “You do know you’re a vampire right?” Chris asked her.
    “So I’ve been told,” she replied around a mouthful of melting peanut butter and chocolate that somehow failed to make her feel any better.
    “It would be best if we left this town,” Julian said. “If the ones looking for you realize vampires died here, they may come here to search for the source of the disappearance.”
    “This is my home.” It didn’t matter if she’d have to leave eventually, she wasn’t going anywhere with an Elder vampire who could learn about her by touching her, or the things she’d touched. She wondered if he could see into her life from touching the wall right now. His flesh wasn’t in contact with it, but then she didn’t know if that kind of contact would be required. “I’m not leaving.”
    Hopefully you will , she thought as she popped the second chocolate cup into her mouth.
    “Well now, Dewdrop, we’re going to have ourselves a problem then.” Quinn stopped chewing on her candy, her jaw locked as she glowered at Julian. “Because we’re not leaving you alone in this town. Not with that ability, and not with them searching for you.”
    The peanut butter went down like mud when she swallowed. “I can take care of myself.”
    “Against one or two, sure. Against a dozen or two dozen, you’ll end up as free as the birdman of Alcatraz.”
    There were a thousand responses running through her mind. Instead of speaking, she found herself simply staring at him as she tried to figure him out. She was beginning to think it might be impossible to do so. “I don’t need your help.”
    “But you do; you’re just unwilling to admit it,” he replied.
    “I don’t want your help,” she insisted.
    “And I don’t want to be stuck in this Podunk town, but I’m not leaving here until I’m sure you’re safe. We’ve all been through hell to make sure The Hunter line stays intact; I’m not about to let it all fall apart because of you.”
    Her hands fisted as she fought the urge to claw his infuriating eyes out. The pressure on her jaw caused her teeth to ache as she ground them together. “I have friends in this town. I’m not going to leave them behind to be destroyed by a bunch of vampires because you’re too scared to stand against them.”
    A strange flash of red blazed around the white band circling his pupil while the rest of his eye remained blue. It was the oddest thing she’d ever seen and yet strangely captivating. “I’m afraid of nothing and no one,” he growled. “But I don’t like putting my friends in danger unnecessarily.”
    This time she was unable to stop her mouth from parting as