Cassie'd been about to snap at him that there was no way it was a mercy, no matter what kind of hellhole of a universe he came from, but he figured it out himself without her having to say anything. She closed her mouth again and took a deep breath through her nose.

"You wouldn't have to go back to the exact point you died," she said. "Or even back to your universe, if you don't want to. And if you decide this fight's too much for you, no one's going to look down on you for taking a step back. But in the meantime..."

She picked her mug up again and raised it. "Here's to the world continuing to spin," she said, and tapped it against his mug before taking another swig of cocoa.