Bamboozled is a short story set in the Otherworld universe. It is narrated by new characters, not from the main series.
It was first published in the anthology Dead Man's Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West. It was republished in Kelley Armstrong's Led Astray collection.
Plot[]
Lily and Nate, along with their gang, go into town under false pretenses. They pretend Lily is a wealthy young woman on the way to California for a betrothal, and the menfolk her protectors.
She catches the eye of her mark, John Anderson, and gets an invitation back to his house under the cover of night. She is escorted by his foreman, Theodore Stewart. She gets Anderson to show her around, then seduces him and knocks him out before she has to actually consummate anything. The menfolk arrive to steal all the valuables.
While the others are busy casing the place, Lily and Nate go to Stewart's modest lodgings. He is their real target, a half-demon with a bounty on his head. One of their men, Will, reveals himself as a double agent. Nate transforms into a wolf and takes out both Stewart and Will.
The two werewolves decide to have some private time before returning to their remaining human partners.
Characters[]
- Nathaniel "Nate" Cooper - a werewolf and con artist
- Lily - a werewolf and con artist
- Will- a gang member and fire half-demon
- Emmett - a gang member
- Levi - a gang member
- John Anderson - a mark
- Theodore Stewart - Anderson's foreman, a fire half-demon
- Bob, Jesse, Cooper - Stewart's men, also half-demons
- Wilcox - a contact, who recommended Will to Nate and Lily