Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan

Here is a summary with spoilers of Beneath These Cursed Stars

Princess Jasalyn has been harboring a deadly secret. Under the cover of night, she slips on a magical ring that allows her to deliver a lethal kiss to her and her sister’s enemies. With a touch of compulsion magic, she ensures that no one even remembers she was there.

Meanwhile, her sister, Abriella, the Queen of the shadow fae, remains unaware, believing Jas to be fragile after enduring imprisonment and torture at the hands of King Mordeus. She worries for her, wanting to shield her from further harm and give her a chance at a normal life. Jas, however, refuses to reveal the truth of her nightly activities, nor her past in the prison. Jas wants nothing to do with the fae life, she dreads the day she turns 18 and will turn fae. However, when the threat of King Mordeus returning looms over the court, Abriella urges Jas to leave with Prince Misha, determined to keep her safe.

That night, defying her sister’s wishes, Jas sets out in search of her next target. But before she can strike, someone sneaks up on her. She’s knocked unconscious.

Enter Felicity, a skilled shapeshifter. She has taken the form of an elderly woman running an apothecary, choosing a quiet life to avoid fulfilling a fatal prophecy—one that foretells she will one day kill her powerful, magical father, who is part of the Magical Seven. However, her adoptive brother, Hale—also known as Kendrick—disrupts her plans. He and his allies have kidnapped Jasalyn, and they need Felicity’s unique abilities for their scheme.

Their plan is bold: Felicity must shift into Jasalyn’s form, infiltrate the Wild Fae King Misha’s court, and charm him while searching for the Hall of Doors. Jasalyn, upon waking, is informed of the plan. Though reluctant, she ultimately agrees—only because she trusts Kendrick, the one person who helped her stay sane when they were both prisoners, suffering under Mordeus’s cruelty and torture.

Before parting ways, Felicity and Jas share a brief conversation. As Felicity absorbs some of Jas’s memories, she realizes that the princess has endured a far harsher life than she and the others had assumed. One thing in particular, scars have been appearing on her body, and she has no idea why. Jas, wanting to ensure Felicity can maintain her disguise, provides her with plenty of hair to sustain the illusion. Felicity then heads straight for the castle, confronts the queen, and solidifies her plan to accompany King Misha. She is about to put on a very good acting front in order to pull her plan off.

Meanwhile, Jas begins learning more about Kendrick’s group—Nathan, Remi, and Skyler are some of his friends that will occompany them. Skyler, the only other girl in the group, immediately makes her hostility known. She believes Jas is nothing more than a pampered princess who has never known hardship and is determined to make her life miserable. As they journey onward, the group stops in a town for dinner, where they overhear members of King Mordeus’s court plotting to assassinate Jas’s sister. They also mention the "Magical Seven"—a group Jas once believed was helping the kingdom, but she now starts to question their true motives. Furious, Jas storms off. Later that night, after everyone is asleep, she slips on her ring and sneaks back down. With just a kiss, she can end a life. She seduces one of the conspirators and does exactly that.

However, before she can leave, Kendrick catches her. Panicked, she warns him to never kiss her, fearing that the ring might still be on her finger. The next morning, as they set off again, she confirms that Kendrick remembers nothing from the night before thanks to the rings magical abilities.

Back at the castle, Felicity continues to experience flashes of Jas’s memories, particularly those from her time in prison. Misha arrives to collect her, preparing to train her. He reminds her that on her upcoming birthday, she will turn fae and manifest her magic, meaning she must be ready to embrace her role as the Shadow Princess of the Unseelie Court. They also meet with a priestess to discuss the resurrection of fae—specifically, whether it’s possible that Mordeus is still alive. If he is, they need to determine which fae possesses the power to bring him back.

Meanwhile, back with Jas and Kendrick’s group, they reveal that an oracle predicted Jas would one day kill one of the Magical Seven, and that Kendrick is destined to overthrow them. In response, Jas finally confesses her secret—the ring. Kendrick is immediately concerned about how she obtained it. She demonstrates its power, but Kendrick becomes upset that she’s willing to kiss her enemies but not him. However, they do end up sharing a kiss—only to discover that the ring doesn’t fully work on him. Later, Jas overhears the group’s whispered concerns; they don’t entirely trust her with the ring. They share the concern that beause of the rings properties, they will never know if she does something to their party, as they will all just forget thanks to the rings magic.

Felicity continues to receive more of Jas’s memories—this time of her being force-fed after weeks of starvation. She also overhears a conversation between Misha and his ex-wife (a political marriage). Misha admits that while he should want Jas, he keeps dreaming of someone else. Later, when Misha and Felicity visit the oracle to learn more about Mordeus, they receive a disturbing revelation—he is both alive and dead, waiting for his magic to fully restore him. Misha then asks the oracle to examine Jas/Felicity’s scars, which Jas has always had but athey are continuing to appear on her body. The oracle warns that Jas is not human and needs to leave immediately. She claims the scars are Mordeus drawing power from her. Felicity fears she’s been caught in her deception, but Misha assumes it only means Jas hasn’t yet undergone her fae transformation. Unintentionally, Felicity shares some of the torture Jas endured in prison with him.

Back with Jas’s group, they are forced to stop when the ring causes her to pass out and forget what she has done. While they recover, they go over Felicity’s plan, and Jas finally learns that Felicity has been seducing Misha. She is furious—when this is all over, she will either have to confess the truth or continue the deception.

Meanwhile, Felicity and Misha grow closer. They share a kiss, but guilt gnaws at Felicity—she feels like she’s betraying the prince. She instructs another member of the group, Shay, to tell Kendrick that they need more information about Jas’s scars, as they may be important, and to be on the lookout for someone with necromancer abilities. However, Shay urges her to focus solely on the portal.

Jas continues to have nightmares—except she realizes they might not be dreams at all. They could be Mordeus’s memories of her—memories that suggest she will be needed in the future. When she reunites with the group, they reveal they’ve been studying her ring. Though she still hasn’t told them what she sacrificed for it, they suspect it has a twin.

Jas struggles with her growing feelings for Kendrick. They both care for each other, but she knows their relationship is doomed—once she returns to her princess duties, they cannot be together. Then, the oracle’s prophecy is revealed in full: Kendrick will overthrow the Magical Seven and be crowned king. But the oracle has already chosen his queen. That queen was taken by Mordeus, which is why Skyler has been warning Jas not to fall for him.

Jas goes to confront Kendrick, but before she can, his friends arrive with urgent news—a women named Carissa has been found and brought back. The group hesitates to share the information with Jas, but she is excited. Carissa is a name she remembers, a girl who helped her in prison. They rush to see her, and it is revealed that Carissa is the oracles chosen queen that Kendrick should have. Before they are able to discuss it, Carissa turns into a wyvern, and starts to attack the city. In the ensuing attack, Kendrick hands Jas her ring. She puts it on and fights. But when she returns to safety, she attempts to remove the ring and finds that it is stuck.

Meanwhile, Felicity prepares for a royal ball, still battling her conflicted feelings for Misha. During the event, Jas’s sister—the queen—arrives. She informs “Jas” that many courts are seeking her hand in marriage to secure alliances. She asks Felicity, as Jas, if she loves Misha, stating that if she does, she won’t stand in their way. Felicity, torn, insists that she doesn’t want Misha. Later that night, Misha approaches her privately, confessing his feelings and asking her to stay so they can formally court. Felicity tells him they’ll decide by the end of the night.

Back with Jas’s group, they struggle to remove the ring. Unable to risk her wandering off in the night, and from the group forgetting eveything that has happened, they tie her hand to Kendrick’s to prevent her from being possessed by the ring’s magic. As they lie together, Kendrick tells her he truly cares for her.

By morning, they have a breakthrough—Mordeus has the other ring, and the marks appearing on Jas’s body are the result of blood magic. Every time a new mark appears, he is siphoning her magic. They finally learn the truth of what Jas sacrificed to obtain the ring, and they all feel bad about what she has given.

Felicity, meanwhile, searches for the portal and fails—badly. She is gravely injured. When she wakes, she finds herself face-to-face with an enraged Misha, who has discovered her secret. She is not really Jas. Felicity desperately tries to explain, to offer information that might calm him, but Misha refuses to listen. Instead, he orders her to be thrown into his prison.

Jas and Kendrick are determined to move on, but Kendrick warns her that the ring is taking her magic, and that she should stay put for a while. Then they enter the room, and Jas sees someone that she has only seen in her nightmares, Shay - who is apparently part of Kendricks team, but Jas can only remember that he helped tear her apart when she was impriosned. Jas remembers more from that memory; so she asks Kendrick to drop his glamor - and it is revealed that Kendrick is indeed fae, not human. And he made a deal with Mordious; he would watch over and protect Jas for the safe keeping of his queen Carissa. Jas is devistated, that the one person she trusted, is actually working with Mordious, and doesn’t care about her at all. Kendrick tries to talk to her, but she darts around a corner, and takes off the ring - leaving Kendrick confused and forgetting everything that was just revealed.

Abriella and Misha come to the prison to interragate Felicity, who is now in her true form. Felicity tells them what she knows; how Jas hated being seen as weak, how she hated to be touched, that Mordious really tortured her, enough to driver her to do the unthinkable, trade away her fae years for the ring. Abriella reveals that she might know a bit about Mordious’s plan; he was never trying to resurect his own body, he was going to find the next best thing - bind himself to Jas, who is a pheniox, she can die and come back from the ashes - meaning his spirit can come back in her body. A guard also comes in claims that Felicity stated in a panic that they were coming for her, and then she just dissapeared out of the dungeon. We also get a chapter from Misha, who ios upset that Felicity is who she is, because she is the girl that he has been dreaming about for months.