Parasite║LGBT+║ONC SHORTLIST 2024
**ONC 2024 Shortlister** Heems is an energy vampire, a parasite, draining xeir hosts' energy with a single touch. That is until xe meets Shiro, a wily thief who happens to be the only person immune to Heems's parasitism.
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Working as a doctor on dwarf planet Eris, Heems drains the energy of xeir unknowing hosts -- Eris's sickly hospital patients -- to survive. Heems's rare parasitic condition doesn't seem to have a cure until xe attempts to make a host out of an injured smuggler. Heems's touch has no effect on the handsome vagrant, Shiro, possibly the only person in the Solar System immune to Heems's parasitism.
Galvanised by the hope of finding a cure, Heems spirals into a deep obsession with Shiro, setting them both on a collision course with powerful organisations desperate to keep hidden Eris's biggest secret: that parasites can be hosts too.
☉ Energy vampirism
☉ LGBT+ romance
☉ Non-binary main character
☉ Cyberpunk
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Notes on gender in this Novella: Heems uses xe/xeir pronouns. This book is written in first person so don't worry if you're new to these pronouns since there aren't so many in the book.
Content Warning: This book is rated mature. It contains potentially triggering topics such as extreme hunger, chronic debilitating illnesses, suicide ideation, drug misuse, sexual intercourse while under the influence of recreational and medicinal drugs.
