§ § § -- June 9, 1985

Teppo stared at Roarke as if Roarke had hit him. "Father's dead?" he asked. Saying the words aloud seemed to drive the fact home, and he reeled, stumbling backwards till he fell into a chair. Leslie, looking stunned, drifted dazedly behind his chair and placed her hands on his shoulders, but he abruptly shrugged her touch away and fell forward from the waist, his hands rising to cover his face. A hurt expression crossed Leslie's face, but she said nothing, only backed away from the chair and wandered to the window to stare out.

"I am deeply sorry, Teppo," Roarke said softly. "I know mere words are little comfort at a time like this."

"It's my fault," Teppo mumbled, and Roarke closed his eyes again.

"No," he began, only to retreat a quick step or two when Teppo rocketed out of his chair and glared at him.

"It is my fault!" he shouted, his voice ringing off the walls. "I killed my own father!!"

"You did nothing of the sort," Roarke contradicted him sharply. "You had no control over your body or your mind. This is the work of Lempo. Think, young man! Have you any memory of the incident that caused your father's death?"

"You know I don't!" Teppo yelled.

"Then why blame yourself?" Roarke demanded. "You know full well that Lempo allows you no awareness or memory of anything that happens while you are under his control. You seem to me to be an intelligent human being. Use that intellect and stop taking the blame for something for which you were not responsible!"

Teppo let his head fall back and took several deep breaths before speaking again. "All right," he said brusquely, "then I think I'd better go to the hospital and see how Mother is." He gave Roarke a sharp look and said pointedly, "Alone."

"If that is your wish," Roarke said.

"Do you want me to…" Leslie began, turning from the window, but Teppo shook his head before she could finish the sentence.

"No," he said, "this doesn't concern you." So saying, he walked out.

Leslie stared at Roarke in bewilderment. "I don't understand."

"He's hurting, Leslie," Roarke said softly, going to her and drawing her into a hug. "Perhaps this is his way of dealing with the shock. Give him a little time."

The evening became night and Teppo did not return. Leslie grew despondent, and Roarke finally pressed a stack of letters into her hand and told her to go through them for fantasy requests. She did so, but without her usual enthusiasm, and at last Roarke sent her to bed about ten. She was more than happy to go, and Roarke heaved a weary sigh to himself before pulling the telephone across the desk and dialing the number of the scholar in Finland. He connected almost immediately and spoke with Launo Haavisto for almost half an hour, taking careful notes as he did. What he learned amazed him utterly.

‡ ‡ ‡ -- June 10, 1985

When Roarke returned to the main house with Julie and a very subdued Leslie the following morning after seeing most of their guests off, he found Teppo Komainen stalking around the office, fuming. Teppo stopped the moment Roarke entered the foyer and said in disgust, "It's about time you came back. I need your help arranging to have my father's body sent home."

"You need not trouble yourself," Roarke said, politely but coolly. "I shall handle everything. Shouldn't you be at the hospital seeing to your mother?" He crossed the room to his desk; Julie and Leslie both stood in the foyer, watching warily.

"What good would that be?" Teppo retorted. "Her condition is no different. Quite frankly, I've been considering asking for a refund on Mother's behalf. So far, you've done exactly nothing to rid me of this problem, and I see no point in prolonging our stay here."

"You really ought to give him a chance," Julie scolded. "I understand this is a very difficult fantasy, and it needs extra time."

"He's had all the time he needs," Teppo barked at her. "He and his daughter both. I think it's definitely time for Mother and me to go home with Father's body."

"And let the god continue to destroy your family and your life?" Julie countered.

"Stay out of this," Teppo told her rudely and turned back to Roarke. "I demand that you start making the arrangements right now."

Julie shrugged. "Excuse me, uncle, I've got to get back home." Roarke nodded, and she left the house, giving Leslie a couple of pats on the shoulder on her way out.

"Very well, if you so wish," Roarke said calmly to Teppo. "Have you anything to say to Leslie?"

Silence dropped in the room like a bomb, and Teppo turned slowly around to stare at Leslie. She stared warily back and clasped her hands behind her back to hide their trembling, just before Teppo's gray eyes turned icy and he said, "There's nothing left to say."

She recoiled as though he had slapped her. "Then get out of here," she shouted at him and fled up the stairs as if on wings. Roarke and Teppo both watched her go; then Roarke turned his attention to the young Finn and narrowed his dark eyes.

"I am inclined to agree with her," he said. "Perhaps you should leave. I had thought you would be good for Leslie, but I no longer quite believe that. Since you continue to be ruled by Lempo, and since you have made a decision to terminate your fantasy, I can only conclude that it would be in her best interests if you left immediately. I refuse to allow you to hurt my daughter."

"I'd never have hurt her," Teppo exploded abruptly. "Good Lord, man, what do you take me for? No, I hurt only my own family." This last came out dripping with sarcasm.

"No?" Roarke retorted, his tone lightly mocking. "I saw differently just now. Or perhaps you're suggesting that I am hallucinating?" His gaze shifted into a glare and he chose his next words deliberately. "You are a menace to my child, and I will not provide you with the means to injure her, physically or emotionally. I will do everything in my power to keep you away from her."

Teppo swore in Finnish – and then a strange light filled his eyes, turning them nearly white with a feral glow. His face contorted, arranged itself into a sneer; his stance became threatening, and hatred and rage seemed to create a nearly visible aura around him. Lempo had returned, and Roarke leaned forward with an intense concentration, his eyes widening, then narrowing again. The room darkened completely, except for a pool of light around Roarke and the possessed young man.

For the first time, Lempo spoke. Teppo's mouth opened and Lempo's voice emerged in a throat-ripping growl. "You'll not stop me from getting what I want, Roarke!" The god had a very heavy Finnish accent, but he spoke in English.

"You have done more than enough damage, Lempo," Roarke said. "You have injured many people, killed a man, and nearly destroyed a young man's life. It's time for you to set Teppo Komainen free!"

"He violated the birthplace," Lempo snarled. "For that he shall be punished!"

"If indeed he did, he must certainly be unaware of it. Explain yourself. What do you mean, he 'violated the birthplace'?"

"He walked through my forest, through the birthplace, where no mortal is ever allowed to go. He will die for that…" Lempo's voice suddenly trailed off and Teppo's head snapped around. "The girl is here."

Roarke's gaze jumped from Teppo/Lempo to Leslie, who had appeared in the room and was edging gingerly around the latter in an attempt to get to her father. Roarke stepped out from behind the desk and reached out for her. "Come around here, Leslie."

"You're not going to tell me to leave?" she whispered, flicking her attention nervously back and forth between Roarke and his adversary.

Roarke shook his head once and unexpectedly smiled at her. "No, you are essential to the outcome of this fantasy. Stay by my side and wait quietly." She nodded, and he turned back to his nemesis. "Show yourself, Lempo. Stop using the young man as a shield and face me in your true guise."

Teppo's image wavered and shifted in a pale mist that swirled around and above him before coalescing into a nine-foot ghostlike image with the appearance of an unimaginably old man. Curiously, his hands ended in gnarled, leafy twigs where his fingers should have been, and twisted branches emerged from either side of his head, about where the horns would have been on Roarke's oldest adversary, Mephistopheles. The feral glow that had obscured Teppo's eyes now gleamed out of Lempo's. "You see me in my true form, Roarke," Lempo intoned. "It's as well. Now the young man dies."

"I hardly think so," Roarke said. "And you are as well aware as I of the reason you cannot destroy Teppo Komainen."

Lempo seemed to freeze there in midair where he hovered, as if processing this statement; then he glared malevolently at Roarke. "Are you so willing to give up what is most precious to you?"

Roarke only smiled, a little sadly. Leslie stared at him, mystified. "To save a life, I would make whatever sacrifice I must."

"Very well. Mind you, Roarke, if he once more violates the birthplace, nothing will save him, and not even you can prevent his fate. You have won…this time. But you are warned."

Roarke nodded. "So be it. Now, release the young man."

The misty image vanished, Teppo collapsed to the floor, and the room regained its normal lighting, all in one instant. No one moved for a long moment; then Teppo stirred and sat up all on his own, staring around him as if he had never seen the room before. Finally his wide-eyed gaze lit on Roarke. "I feel…lighter."

"Indeed you should," Roarke remarked with a smile. "You are free of Lempo."

"Just like that?" Leslie asked, astonished.

Roarke chuckled. "Yes, my dear Leslie, although perhaps not exactly 'just like that', as you say. Sit down, both of you. There are some things you must know."

Teppo and Leslie each took a club chair; they both seemed suddenly very shy around each other, but they sneaked quick peeks at each other until they were settled and Roarke had commandeered their attention. "Okay then," Teppo said. "I heard what was going on this time, Mr. Roarke. I remember everything that happened, from the moment Lempo took over. I can't understand how I 'violated his birthplace'."

"Lempo's domain is the forest," Roarke said. "It is where he was born and has always lived and ruled. And you, like so many of your countrymen, are a nature-lover. The entire time you have been here, you have chosen to spend time outdoors – at the Japanese garden, on the beach, wherever. So you are very much an outdoor person. You hike through the forest near your home, do you not?" Teppo nodded. "Somehow, during one of those walks, you apparently passed through a part of the forest that Lempo held sacred, and he felt the need to punish you for it. Thus, his periodic possession of your mind and body, and his use thereof to harm those around you." He smiled in amusement at Teppo's astounded expression. "I spoke with Launo Haavisto last night, and he explained all this to me. That's why he asked you so many questions the first time you met him. His subsequent research gave him the answers you were all searching for."

"I see," Teppo murmured. He took a moment to digest all this, then turned to Leslie and swallowed thickly. "I turned against you in my grief over my father," he said, his voice soft with self-recrimination. "It was wrong of me, Leslie, and I'm so sorry. I pushed you away from me when I really needed you more than anything else. I don't want you to hate me…I hope you can forgive me for treating you so badly."

"I can understand grieving for a parent," Leslie said and smiled slightly at him. "I've been there myself, you know. You've had one crazy weekend, but it's all over now." She extended a hand toward him, and he took it, grinning at her in pure relief.

"I'm just glad I didn't do any lasting damage to you," Teppo said, squeezing her hand and turning to Roarke. "But why, exactly? When Lempo controlled me, I lashed out at everyone and everything – yet Leslie alone remained immune. Why?"

The sad smile returned to Roarke's features. "It's quite simple, really. Leslie was safe from harm because of the power of your love for her, and hers for you." They stared at him without comprehension, and he concluded softly, "For you see, Lempo is not only the Finnish god of evil; he is also – believe it or not – the god of love."