Chapter Summaries

James saved Lincoln’s youngest son from a vampire disguised as a maid, then learned that Lincoln was a vampire hunter and that vampires had deep ties to Southern slaveholders. After discussing the threat and the country’s future with Lincoln, James left Washington determined to rely on his strength as he neared Huajin.

• James stopped the maid from attacking Lincoln’s youngest son, then broke her neck and spine when she sprang back up.
• James and Lincoln discussed how vampires could be killed and how they had taken root in America, including their suspected role in the deaths of Governor Smith and his niece.
• James explained that his sense of smell had alerted him to the vampire, and Lincoln shared how his mother’s death had led him to become a hunter.
• James and Lincoln talked through the night about vampires, slavery, and American politics, and Lincoln asked James to stay and help oppose the Southern slaveholders.
• James declined to commit, left the White House the next morning, and resolved to face the increasingly complicated world through his strength as he approached Huajin.

Master Adam ordered a large force led by Marcus to visit the Howlett estate and attack James, while James and Victor sensed the approaching guests and prepared to meet them. Marcus and his riders entered the estate through its open gates, which then closed behind them.

• Master Adam learned that Vadoma was alive in White House custody and ordered a force to visit the boy in Canada, regardless of whether he survived.
• James agreed to join O'Hara for afternoon tea, then later recited Shelley to her while Victor trained intensely and practiced Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound.
• Victor interrupted James and O'Hara, and O'Hara complained that their constant training and fighting could not protect them from rifles.
• James and Victor detected intruders, and James told O'Hara to secure the house and escape through the secret door if anyone broke in.
• Marcus led his pale-faced riders toward the Howlett estate, dismissed the threat of its gunmen, and charged through the gates as they opened; the gates closed behind them.

James Howlett and Victor fought Marcus’s vampire riders, overwhelming them with their strength and skill. Marcus fled toward the study where O'Hara was hiding, and James pursued him.

• James asked whether all the vampire riders had arrived, then told Victor to split the group with him.
• Victor attacked first, killing a rider by tearing off his head, while James fought the vampires with martial arts.
• James assessed the vampires’ speed, healing, and ability to vanish as he and Victor killed their attackers.
• Marcus watched his riders fall and fled on horseback, then climbed the castle wall when he found the gates shut.
• James stopped fighting and chased Marcus toward the study where O'Hara was hiding.

James rescued O'Hara from Marcus and crushed the vampire, while Adam ordered the Holy Race to regroup and investigate James. After the battle gave James the final inspiration he needed, he mastered Huajin in the underground training room.

• Marcus crashed into James's study and lunged at O'Hara, who shot him with a hunting rifle.
• James burst through the wall and crushed nearly every bone and organ in Marcus's body, then Victor confirmed that Marcus had been locked up.
• Adam concluded that Marcus and the eighteen members of the Holy Race would not return, ordered the Holy Race summoned to Cedar Mountain, and told Vadoma to investigate James.
• James trained with a massive lead sphere and used a punch to halt its spinning force, completing his mastery of Huajin.

After three days sealed in meditation, James emerged stronger and turned his attention to the war between the Union and Confederacy. He sent a letter to Washington while continuing to interrogate the imprisoned vampire Marcus for information.

• O'Hara complained that James had been shut in for three days, while Vane reassured her that Victor was checking on him.
• James emerged from the meditation chamber after three days, and Victor chose to train rather than fight him.
• James discussed the Union's setbacks with O'Hara and said Lincoln would abolish slavery, then sent a letter to Washington.
• James questioned the starving Marcus in his dungeon, but Marcus insisted he had revealed everything he knew.

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.