That's more than fair," Ion agreed, and meant. If the word 'vampire' didn't hold the same taint for Ignacio as it did for Ion, then who was he to try and insist the older man shouldn't use it? (That mention of humans ruining things was noted, but didn't set off any internal alarms yet; he knew full well that the remarkable people he'd met in the Outer -Esther and Cardinal Sforza and Brother Petros- were the exceptions, not the rule.)

When Ignacio apologized, he just shook his head. "There's nothing to forgive."