Recaps

James prepared for a coming war against Adam and his vampires while urging President Lincoln to abolish slavery and ready the North with silver weapons. After Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, James left for Washington with Victor and armed Howlett Family men.

• James interrogated Marcus about Adam, learning that Adam created the vampires of the American Continent and that Vadoma had also been turned by him.
• James warned Lincoln that Jefferson Davis might seek Adam’s help and that the North needed to prepare for a vast vampire army.
• Lincoln decided to abolish slavery and instructed Joshua Speed to oversee the collection of pure silver.
• In September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and thousands of enslaved people fled north as the Union began recruiting Black soldiers.
• James departed for Washington with Victor, while O'Hara gave him homemade toast and watched his carriage leave.

Jeremy’s Union unit was ambushed at night by Confederate vampires, but James and the Howlett Family’s silver-armed sharpshooters turned the battle around. Victor rampaged through the enemy ranks and approached two Confederate soldiers who had surrendered.

• Jeremy’s unit formed a firing line after hearing movement in the woods, then discovered the charging Confederates were unarmed vampires.
• A vampire attacked Tommy and another tackled Jeremy, but a masked man killed Jeremy’s attacker and revealed himself as James.
• James ordered Jack Pitt and the Howlett Family’s sharpshooters to fire silver-tipped ammunition, which killed the vampires and helped the Union troops regain control.
• Victor charged into the Confederate ranks, tearing vampires apart despite being shot by a Gatling gun.
• Victor twisted the Gatling gun’s barrels and reached toward one of the two Confederate soldiers who had surrendered.

James stopped Victor from killing surrendered Confederate soldiers and discussed the growing vampire threat with General Hooker. As silver ammunition was prepared for Gettysburg, Adam sought information about the trains carrying it, while James and Lincoln expected him to intervene.

• James restrained Victor and insisted that the Confederate soldiers surrender to Federal troops and face the courts.
• General Hooker thanked James for helping capture Thomas Jackson and warned that the Federal Army needed to arm its soldiers against the South’s vampire forces.
• James explained that silver ammunition was being shipped to the battlefronts and promised Lincoln he and Victor would protect the Gettysburg shipment.
• Adam learned that two trains might carry the silver ammunition and ordered his informant to discover who was escorting them.
• James and Lincoln predicted Adam would come after the ammunition, and Adam decided that the strong trusted only themselves.

Kenyara explained why he helped Daniel Ferrant and the other survivors escape, while James and Victor prepared to confront Adam aboard a steam train. As the train neared the vampires’ barricade, Adam and Vadoma waited on the tracks for the confrontation.

• Kenyara told Daniel Ferrant that Mr. Howlett the younger had promised him land and a better life for people like him, and that he believed him.
• Daniel Ferrant said he and the other two survivors would reach Mombasa the next day, while he worried that James might not be able to rescue their captured companions.
• James and Victor shoveled coal into their train and continued toward the freight station near Gettysburg, expecting to meet the vampire progenitor by dawn.
• Adam and Vadoma watched vampires block the tracks with boulders and rails, and Adam reminded Vadoma that her people were his creations.
• The train’s whistle sounded as it approached, and Adam smiled at the sight of its headlights.

James and Victor confronted Adam and the vampires at the stopped train, where James revealed the ammunition shipment had been a trap and challenged Adam’s belief that vampires were gods. James and Adam began a fierce fight while Victor was worn down by the vampires’ speed and numbers.

• Victor braked the train as it approached Adam and the vampires, and James and Victor faced the surrounding attackers.
• Adam struck James and knocked him onto another carriage, though James’s punch left Adam’s forearm badly damaged.
• James revealed that both trains carried real silver-plated ammunition and that Joshua Speed’s betrayal had helped expose the vampires’ plan.
• Adam declared that vampires were gods destined to rule mortals, and James challenged him to become mortal.
• James and Adam charged into battle, with Adam’s speed pressing James even as James repeatedly cut off his attacks.
• Victor killed several vampires before the others used their speed and numbers to attack him from a distance and wear him down.

James fought Adam while Victor battled the vampires surrounding him, and both men revealed new power. Adam transformed into a monstrous winged creature and pierced James through the chest, leaving the fight at a sudden turning point.

• James emerged from three days of training with greatly increased strength, and Victor realized he could no longer match him.
• Victor grew exhausted under the vampires’ attacks, then discovered he could unleash a force through his body that killed them on contact.
• James taunted Adam as Victor began crushing the vampires, and Adam stopped fighting to reveal that the vampires were his creations, not his brothers.
• Adam transformed into a winged, blue-black monster whose presence compelled the vampires and Victor to submit.
• Adam flew at James in a rage and pierced his chest with his claws.

James unleashed the full power of his transformed fist technique and nearly defeated Adam, while Victor fought off the other vampires. Vadoma’s intervention let Adam bite Victor and escape beneath the moon, leaving Victor suffering from the vampire’s venomous attack.

• Adam punched through James’s chest, but James healed within seconds as Adam overwhelmed him with his transformed strength.
• James awakened the full force of his fist technique, severed Adam’s wing, and battered him until his limbs and body were badly damaged.
• Victor killed most of the vampires, and the remaining two fled as Adam began to fear that James would kill him.
• Vadoma charged James and briefly restrained him, giving Adam time to lunge at Victor and bite his shoulder.
• James broke free, but Adam replenished his strength from the bite, healed his wing, and escaped after promising to give Victor power.

After Gettysburg, James returned to Edmonton and investigated whether Victor had been changed by Adam’s bite, while arranging protection for Daniel’s journey back from Kenya. The chapter ended when Victor appeared in Elizabeth’s bedroom during a storm.

• Jack Pitt told Abraham Lincoln that James would visit Washington after finishing business in Edmonton and warned him that the wounded Adam had escaped.
• James released Victor from quarantine after finding no obvious signs that Adam’s bite had changed him, though a red glint briefly appeared in Victor’s eyes.
• After receiving Daniel’s telegram from Kenya, James ordered escorts and diplomatic help to protect him on his return.
• During a rainy night, Elizabeth saw Victor enter her bedroom as a towering figure.

Victor confronted Mrs. Elizabeth and made her reveal that James was Thomas Logan’s son, then vanished into the rainy night. James searched for Victor and traveled with O’Hara to Washington, where they attended a Union victory banquet and met President Lincoln and the Northern elite.

• Victor asked Mrs. Elizabeth what James was to him, and she mistook Victor for Thomas before crying that James was Thomas’s son.
• Victor leaped into the rainy night and disappeared, while James and Jack searched nearby towns and woods without finding him.
• James learned that O’Hara was preparing extensive luggage for their trip to Washington, where they planned to meet the president and continue searching for Victor and Adam.
• After the Union captured Chattanooga, James and O’Hara arrived at the White House for a victory banquet.
• President Lincoln warmly greeted James and O’Hara, and introduced them to industrialists, officials, and members of Congress.

At Lincoln’s reception, James discussed the war’s aftermath and the interests of northern industrialists, while Victor followed Adam’s trail to Jacksonville. The chapter ended with Victor realizing Adam was in town.

• Lincoln told James that his search for Mr. Logan had found no trace of him and promised help through a trading post in Kenya.
• James warned Lincoln that Adam was far more dangerous than ordinary vampires and discussed his factory’s research into power machinery.
• Lincoln opened a discussion about Black people’s rights after slavery, while northern leaders debated postwar interests and James sought access to southern land.
• Victor arrived in Jacksonville, where townspeople suspected him of the recent disappearances and reported him to the mayor and sheriff.
• Victor sensed Adam nearby and followed his scent, confirming that Adam was in Jacksonville.

Victor resisted Adam’s attempt to enslave him, took Adam’s Source Blood, and defeated him. Afterward, James and President Lincoln discussed the limits of emancipation as James and O’Hara left the White House.

• Adam rose from his coffin in the abandoned mansion and tried to compel Victor to drink his Source Blood.
• Victor resisted Adam’s control and drank the Source Blood, growing stronger while Adam weakened.
• Victor fought Adam, tore off his arms and wings, and drained the rest of his Source Blood.
• James reassured President Lincoln that destroying the vampires had weakened slaveholders and helped establish Black people’s freedom.
• James and O’Hara departed the White House together, and James privately promised to bear witness for Lincoln.

James Howlett inspected Otto’s new coal-gas internal combustion engine at the Howlett Mechanical Experimental Factory and urged him to research gasoline-powered engines. He turned down Herbert Vernon’s request to buy shares in the family business, then went to meet O’Hara before their dinner with President Lincoln.

• James watched Otto demonstrate a smooth-running, 4.4-horsepower compound-piston engine that used coal gas, and encouraged him to develop a gasoline-powered version.
• Tom Weddell told James that Herbert Vernon had waited to see him and likely wanted to join the Howletts’ projects in the South.
• Herbert asked James to let him buy shares in the Howlett Family business, but James refused and left Tom to speak with him.
• James went to a dress shop, where he watched O’Hara try on an ivory-white gown for their dinner with President Lincoln and his wife.

James visited the Lincoln family and warned Abraham Lincoln about the dangers of pursuing postwar reforms, while promising to look after him. In Jacksonville, Sheriff Stern’s men discovered a giant emerging from the ruined haunted house, apparently the source of the terrifying growls.

• James shared cigars with Lincoln and predicted that America would become a leading power before facing sweeping global conflicts.
• Lincoln said he intended to mend the country after the Civil War, and James warned that doing so would put Lincoln in danger and make him unpopular.
• Sheriff Red Stern and his men investigated the ruined haunted house after people disappeared and reports spread of a towering monster.
• After the house’s continuous growling suddenly stopped, two officers saw a giant man emerge from it and noticed his long canine teeth.

James encountered Victor, who had taken Adam’s power and transformed into a saber-toothed tiger, and the two fought brutally. Their bodies joined as they struggled to absorb each other’s marrow, leaving James newly empowered and Victor aged and near death.

• James sent O'Hara back to the inn after detecting a familiar scent in the woods.
• Victor emerged and revealed that he had taken all of Adam’s power, transforming into a tiger-like beast.
• Victor overwhelmed James in their fight until James accepted his bone claws and attacked with renewed ferocity.
• James’s broken claws connected to Victor’s spine, and their bodies fused as they absorbed each other’s marrow.
• James’s bones and claws transformed while Victor rapidly aged, then Victor thanked Jamie and died smiling.

Daniel Ferrant returned from a seven-year expedition and told James about his search for Wakanda while James struggled to control the vampiric power he had absorbed from Victor. Daniel left James a map and a piece of Wakandan metal, and James remained underground, fighting his violent urges.

• Daniel returned to Victoria Harbour, where Jack told him about the American Civil War and the vampires.
• James forced himself to eat and struggled with blood cravings, a transformed body, and unstable powers in the underground chamber.
• Daniel entered the chamber and saw James’s enormous, frightening new form.
• James asked Daniel about Wakanda, and Daniel recounted his capture, enslavement, and escape with Kenyara.
• Daniel left James a hide map and a piece of Wakandan metal before returning to the manor.
• James examined the map and metal, then roared in anguish underground.

James remembered that President Lincoln was in danger and sent Jack Pitt and his companions to Washington to protect him. On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered Ford's Theatre and aimed at Lincoln, while Jack followed him into the presidential box.

• After reading the April 2 newspaper, James remembered Lincoln's impending assassination and summoned help.
• Booth learned Lincoln and other officials would attend a play at Ford's Theatre on April 14, then resolved to act.
• Jack Pitt, Lauren, and Chris reached Washington and hurried to find Lincoln at James's command.
• Lincoln left for Ford's Theatre with only Stephen as his guard, despite Mary's concern.
• Booth entered the theater and prepared to shoot Lincoln as Jack noticed and followed him toward the presidential box.
• Booth aimed his pistol at Lincoln's head and fired.

James learned that Jack had saved President Lincoln from an assassin, then withdrew to Vancouver Island to train in the deep sea and regain control of his strength. After pushing himself to the brink at nearly three thousand meters, he broke through a barrier and underwent a painful physical transformation before surfacing, feeling reborn.

• Vane told James that Jack had stopped an assassin from killing President Lincoln, and James sent word that Jack should remain in Washington to guard the president.
• James declined Lincoln’s request to meet and asked Vane to find a secluded coast and build him a house.
• James spent the following years training underwater off Vancouver Island, using the ocean’s pressure to strengthen his body and recover control of his power.
• As James neared three thousand meters deep, he forced his full strength through his body and released a burst of power that drove the seawater away around him.
• James’s bones, muscles, skin, and teeth transformed amid intense pain, and he eventually surfaced after the storm to rest in the waves.

After Lincoln died peacefully, James traveled through Egypt and discovered a mistreated, teleporting child named Azazel. He adopted him as Azazel Howlett and headed north, leaving the story poised to enter the Age of War.

• Lincoln lived at the Howlett Estate for several years, then returned to Washington with Mary and died peacefully at home.
• James learned that the Howlett Family had overcome the final technical hurdles in developing the gasoline internal combustion engine.
• James sailed from Athens to Alexandria, then traveled south toward Sudan in search of unusual myths and hidden peoples.
• In Wasitai, James followed his strange intuition to a barn and caught a red-skinned child who could teleport.
• James fed the frightened child, learned that he was called Azazel, and killed the troupe members who had abused him.
• James named the child Azazel Howlett and carried him north through the Egyptian sandstorm.

In 1910, James prepared to reenter public life as Bruce Howlett while reprimanding Azazel for repeatedly going into Edmonton undisguised. He summoned Azazel to watch his training for the final step, then appeared to withdraw every sign of life from his body.

• James told Casper that he would soon appear publicly as Bruce Howlett and asked whether Azazel had returned.
• Casper reported that Azazel had caused a public stir in Edmonton for the third time that month, and James recalled Azazel as a child.
• James confronted Azazel about going out without disguising his appearance and asked how far he had progressed in his training.
• James told Azazel to stay and observe him training for the final step, then began transforming in the stone chamber.
• James released a shockwave that pinned Azazel to the wall, then his body turned pale and seemed to show no signs of life.

James spent decades developing a cultivation method for Mutants and experimenting on his own body before completing a dramatic transformation. He emerged with a renewed physique and joked with a horrified Azazel.

• James built the Howlett Family into a dominant industrial power while studying ancient cultures and searching for ways to cultivate Mutant abilities.
• James developed a three-stage method for mastering a Mutant's body, mind, consciousness, and powers, and Azazel reached its second stage.
• James spent years testing where to concentrate his energy and blood, using his healing ability to recover from experiments that severely damaged his body.
• James decided to form multiple Bao Dan points, and nine scarlet points appeared along his spine as his body transformed.
• James finished transforming into a smooth-skinned, powerfully built form and asked the shaken Azazel whether Dad looked handsome.

T'Chaka learned patience and the duties of Wakanda's protector from his father. Aboard a ship in the Indian Ocean, Azazel tricked James into a high-altitude fall, where James revealed he could hover, then punished Azazel by grounding him until they docked.

• T'Chaka watched a Black Panther hunt an antelope, and his father taught him to wait for the right moment before striking.
• T'Chaka's father explained that Wakanda's warriors had a duty to protect their land and people, and that his own strength had not come from the Panther God's blessing alone.
• Azazel enjoyed teleporting into the sky and falling toward the sea, then challenged James to try it.
• Azazel teleported James high above the sea, but James stopped himself above the water and hovered back to the ship.
• James told Azazel he could only hover for now and sentenced him to twelve hours of meditation in the hold.

James led Azazel and the Wolf Pack from Kenya toward Wakanda to receive cargo, then traveled ahead with Azazel to scout the area. They encountered a Wakandan border patrol, whose warriors surrounded them as a powerful figure leaped into their midst.

• James brought Azazel, the Wolf Pack, and a large convoy of equipment and transport trucks from Kenya toward Uganda, escorted by two navy warships.
• James ordered Remus Pitt to establish a camp near Lake Valkana and guard against anyone approaching, then rushed into the forest with Azazel to scout ahead.
• James and Azazel reached Wakanda, where a patrol spotted them and surrounded them with drawn weapons.
• More Wakandan warriors gathered after the patrol sounded a horn, and a dark figure leaped over the crowd and landed in front of James.

James and Azazel clashed with Wakanda’s warriors after Azzuri refused to let them enter peacefully. Azazel overwhelmed the ordinary soldiers but was forced back by Azzuri’s strength and armor, leaving James watching closely as the fight continued.

• Azzuri questioned James and Azazel, then ordered them to surrender after James revealed he knew Wakanda’s secret.
• Azzuri summoned the Dora Milaje, and James explained their role to Azazel as the warriors surrounded them.
• Azazel used his teleportation to kill Wakandan warriors, scattering the tribal fighters into chaos.
• Azzuri regrouped the Dora Milaje into tight formations and engaged Azazel, who shifted his focus to the Black Panther king.
• Azazel’s blades failed to pierce Azzuri’s armor, and Azzuri’s claws smashed them before knocking Azazel back to James, wounded.

James fought King Azzuri to test Wakanda’s Vibranium armor and discovered it could damage his bone shields, though his wounds and weapons quickly healed. After asking whether Azzuri had any other tricks or super technology, James left the king suspecting Bast no longer protected Wakanda.

• James stopped Azazel from attacking Azzuri again, then revealed his bone claws and shields and charged the king.
• James struck Azzuri into a boulder, while Azazel teleported among the charging Wakandan warriors and dropped them from the sky.
• James tested Azzuri’s Vibranium armor, finding it absorbed tremendous impacts, while Azzuri’s claws carved into James’s bone shields.
• Azzuri’s claws cut James’s chest, and both fighters paused as they noticed the wound and damage to his exoskeleton.
• James healed his wounds and restored his bone weapons, then asked Azzuri about other tricks or super technology.
• Azzuri wondered whether Bast no longer watched over Wakanda.

James tested his full power against Azzuri’s Vibranium armor, gravely injuring the Wakandan king before the Wakandans charged in anger. He and Azazel later searched a mine for information about the glowing plants, but the captured woman refused to reveal Wakanda’s secrets.

• James asked Azzuri his name and challenged the Wakandan king to show the strength of the Black Panther and Vibranium.
• James overwhelmed Azzuri with rapid attacks, penetrating the armor’s protection enough to leave the king badly injured.
• The Dora Milaje captain and Wakandans charged James after he lowered Azzuri to the ground.
• James and Azazel stood in a mine beside glowing plants while Azazel held a Wakandan woman captive.
• James questioned the woman about the herb, knocked her unconscious when she refused to answer, and told Azazel to get to work.