When Richard’s ritual finally succeeds in piercing the barrier between life and death, it is not the ghost of Catherine that appears but this shadowy succubus. She’s offered Richard a deal so he can venture into the afterlife. She has now assumed his mortal identity and answers to his name. To mortal eyes she looks identical to Richard but is a much snappier dresser. She has used this borrowed mortality to anchor herself to the physical realm and blackmail Utos.