Chapter 145

The photograph that Ivan had told me about the night before was taken a while later.

I got nervous immediately. I didn’t know if he had already mentioned including me, or if anyone would find it annoying. The first one I thought of was the patriarch. I watched in silence as everyone involved took their places, the children in front and the adults behind them. I was greatly impressed by seeing Illya transformed into his other form, and I was also surprised by how much Ivan and Mikhail resembled him: they were the same height, and if it weren’t for the fact that Illya had longer and thicker hair (which made him more corpulent and prominent), I would have sworn that they were identical to each other. They would take the photo with the house in the background, so Ivan stood behind Mirko, with Mikhail to his left and Illya to his right, and to Illya’s right, his wife. I held Sasha while I waited.

Then Ivan saw me and made a sign with his paw-hand, calling me. I know that seve